Written by Michael Chen
The Teen Advisory Board (TAB) will be running Toys for Kids, a toy drive that collects toys for underprivileged children, from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15. The mission of the toy drive is to provide underprivileged children in small, local organizations with gifts for the holidays. The TAB has placed multiple donation bins around Palo Alto, including locations around Gunn and Palo Alto High School where students and adults will be able to place their donations.
According to TAB co-president Aren Raisinghani, the board is also reaching out to numerous local schools, organizations and businesses for donations in order to expand the program’s success. “The TAB plans to take up the responsibility of the program by reaching out to schools in the Palo Alto Unified School District, the Palo Alto Police and Fire Departments, as well as local organizations and businesses to request donations for the drive,” Raisinghani said.
In the past, teenagers have had little to no knowledge about the program, and Raisinghani says that the board is implementing new methods of promoting the drive in order to get more teenagers involved. “We plan to use social media, posters, flyers, and word of mouth so that many people become aware of the drive and we obtain numerous donations,” Raisinghani said. “This will be helpful for teen awareness and will help maximize our donations, as teens can donate and influence peers and adults to donate.”
The program was founded in the bay area 30 years ago by a man named Rob Steele, who just last year passed responsibility of the program to the TAB.
The TAB itself is a youth group sponsored by the City of Palo Alto, dedicated to serving the community by planning activities to increase teen involvement and advocate for Palo Alto’s teens.
