Banner Thunderbird seeks community help in filling its toy closets
GLENDALE, Ariz. (Nov. 3, 2010) – A toy can ease the discomfort and anxiety of a medical procedure for children who are patients in Banner Thunderbird Medical Center’s Children’s Center.
After a particularly difficult procedure, whether in a pediatric unit, surgery or the pediatric emergency department, a child is rewarded by getting to pick an age-appropriate toy from one of the hospital’s four toy closets to give them some temporary distraction from their illness and pain and give them something to look forward to: play time.
Learn more about our Toy Closets. 
To keep the toy closets full of items appropriate for children ages newborn to 17 years old, the nonprofit hospital is undertaking a Holiday Toy Drive starting on Nov. 8 and running until Dec. 31. All donated toys should be unwrapped, in their original packaging or with all the tags still attached.
Toys may be dropped off at the North Lobby Information Desk, located within the main entrance of the medical facility, 5555 W. Thunderbird Road in Glendale, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. any day of the week.
“Banner Thunderbird’s toy closets are truly the highlight of a hospitalized child’s stay,” said Child Life coordinator Joy Daugherty, who is responsible for providing comfort and education to children and their families during their stay at the hospital.
“Hospitals are a scary place for anyone, but especially children,” Daugherty said. “Children often feel powerless in a hospital setting because they have little control over what is happening to them. Allowing a child to go to a toy closet and pick out a toy of their liking may seem like a small gesture, but it makes a big difference in their stay by giving them back a sense of control and choice that they have lost being in the hospital.”
Banner Thunderbird Medical Center is a 513-bed acute-care hospital and the largest and most comprehensive provider of medical care to children in the West Valley. For more information about the Holiday Toy Drive or the hospital’s Toy Closets, contact Banner Thunderbird’s Public Relations department at 602-865-5779.
