Throughout last week, Mattel held its annual Play it Forward Global Volunteer Week. From toy donations to beautification projects and even the construction of homes, Play it Forward provides Mattel employees around the world with opportunities to support the communities in which they live, work, and play. Mattel’s purpose is to empower the next generation to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential, and the Play It Forward initiative gives the team a chance to further immerse ourselves in that purpose by directly engaging with local communities to serve children and families alongside colleagues.
Some of the Play it Forward activations that took place in the U.S. last week include:
· Warehouse beautification and assembly of new parent gift boxes in partnership with Good+ Foundation
· Play experiences and toy giveaway event in partnership with Save the Children’s 100 Days of Reading campaign where we served over 1,400 elementary school aged children
· Kicking off the construction of eight, single family homes in Los Angeles. The Barbie DreamHouse is celebrating 60 years of giving dreams a home by undergoing 60 home projects through a yearlong partnership with Habitat for Humanity International. Also with Habitat for Humanity, the Mattel team built ten branded playhouses to donate to local families.
· Mural painting at Grand View Elementary School in partnership with Beautify Earth and LA’s Best
· Play kit donations and book reading with Salvation Army
Mattel employees globally across Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Canada simultaneously executed similar, feel-good projects.
In addition to all the magic that transpired during Play it Forward Week, Mattel employees in Poland recently constructed three incredible play spaces for nearly 1,000 orphaned children from Ukraine at the Ossa Hotel in honor of Children’s Day on June 1st. In total, Mattel donated more than 2,000 toys to children living at the hotel; Microsoft, Carbotex, and Trefl & Granna joined Mattel as partners to provide XBox consoles, pillows, and games, respectively.
