The South Florida community generously donated 14,000 toys (and counting!) to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital on Saturday during its annual Spread Joy Toy Drive, with a total estimated toy value of over $350,000. Each year, the holiday tradition brings together corporate partners and individuals who donate new, unwrapped toys to help bring extra cheer to patients who are admitted at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital during the holidays and throughout the year.
“We are blown away by the incredible generosity of our community, as well as our corporate sponsors and volunteers, who made this year’s Spread Joy toy drive so successful,” said Lauren Tulowitzki, director of Annual Giving at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation. “It can be challenging when children are admitted to the hospital through the holidays, and these donated toys will absolutely make a difference! It’s so magical to see the joy, smiles and comfort that these toys bring to our patients and families.”
On the eight days of Hanukkah and on Christmas morning, every patient admitted at Nicklaus Children’s will wake up with a gift bag of toys and other goodies tailored to their age range. The remaining toys are used throughout the year for patients and their siblings as birthday presents and prizes, milestone gifts, going-home gifts, and for therapy and education.
This year, the toy drive was sponsored by Delta, Pacin Levine Attorneys at Law, CVS Pharmacy y Más, Dunkin’, Shake Shack and Jersey Mike’s. During Saturday’s toy drop-off at the hospital, the musical entertainment was provided by Y-100 and 93.9 MIA, both iHeartMedia radio stations.
In addition to the drop-off, there are many more ways to support Nicklaus Children’s patients and families this time of year, including purchases from our Amazon lists and the Virtual Toy Drive, which has so far raised $13,000 for the purchase more toys for patients!
Learn more and help spread joy to Nicklaus Children’s patients at www.nicklauschildrens.org/spreadjoy.
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About Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Where Your Child Matters Most ™ (2025)
For 75 years, Nicklaus Children's has stood as a beacon of hope for children and families across the state of Florida and beyond. Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's #1 nonprofit, freestanding specialty licensed hospital exclusively for children serving close to 70 percent of children in the Miami metropolitan community. In addition, Nicklaus Children's offers care within NCH North Hospital in Naples, Jupiter Medical Center's De George Pediatric Unit and select Baptist Health Hospital pediatric emergency units. The hospital and its network of more of nearly 35 outpatient care locations offer lifesaving care in in Miami-Dade, Broward, Martin, and Palm Beach counties. These outpatient locations include an array of urgent care, pediatric primary care, and subspecialty care centers and are either hospital-based or outpatient locations under Nicklaus Children's Pediatric Specialists, LLC (NCPS). Providing a pipeline of future physicians and groundbreaking research, Nicklaus Children's is an academic and clinical affiliate of Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Nicklaus Children's is home to centers of excellence including the Helen & Jacob Shaham Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute, the Nicklaus Children's Orthopedic, Sports Medicine and Spine Institute, Nicklaus Children's Neuroscience Institute and Nicklaus Children's Heart Institute. The 325-bed hospital is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine, with many programs routinely ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. Nicklaus Children's also includes a nonprofit physician practice subsidiary with over 40 specialties, and an ambulatory surgery center.