Ben’s Toy Car Bins began with a simple mission to bring joy to children staying at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh by delivering toy cars right to their bedside. As parents, we experienced firsthand how dull and difficult a hospital stay can be for a child.
Ben Jr. had a magnificent and special love of toy cars. His eyes shined anytime we went to the store where he could search through the Hot Wheels displays and dig into the giant bins to find the perfect car. Watching his excitement sparked an idea: what if we could bring that same sense of joy to kids who are hospitalized?
And so, the idea of Ben Toy Car Bins was born, and we filled bins with toy cars for kids to pick from, just like Ben did. Our goal was to recreate the excitement of choosing and opening a brand new toy car, giving kids a moment of happiness during times of hardship. Because these toys are small and affordable, kids can even pick one each day!
What began as Ben’s Toy Car Bins is now Ben’s Toy Bins which has provided a wide variety of toys for children of all ages and interests. Now, we can reach even more children with toys that bring joy, comfort, and a bit of fun to their hospital stay.
So far, we have given away approximately 75,000 toys to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Harrisburg’s children’s wings, Pittsburgh Western Psych children’s wings.
Ben’s Toy Bins are just getting started...
Ben’s Toy Bins up close and in person.
We got to assemble a HotWheels Sto-N-Go car wash, that goes bedside for a child to play with in there room. It was very exciting and emotional to see Ben’s Toy Bins in person as well. We could just picture the joy it would’ve brought Ben to choose from a bin full of new toys, and to play with the HotWheels Car wash. Our hope is to bring that joy and distraction to any child not feeling well.
