Every year around this time, someone at work says it. We should do something for the holidays. Everyone nods. And then November turns into December, calendars fill up, and the idea quietly disappears.
It does not have to go that way. A workplace toy drive is one of the easiest things a team can do together, and it takes far less effort than most people expect. Here is exactly how it works.
Start earlier than feels necessary
Most people wait until December. By then it is tight.
Mid-October through early November is the sweet spot. It gives your team six or seven weeks to actually bring things in, which matters more than you would think. People mean to donate. They just need time to remember on a day they are already going to the store.
Starting early also means the toys reach families before the holidays rather than after, which is the entire point.
Put the box somewhere people have to walk past
This is the part that quietly decides whether your drive works.
A collection box tucked into a back hallway collects almost nothing. The same box by the front door, the kitchen, or the elevator bank fills up. People give when they are reminded, and the reminder has to be where they already are.
With the Ace of Hearts Project, we deliver a branded 50-gallon box to your office and pick it up when the drive ends. You do not need to build anything or store anything afterward.
Tell people what to buy
“Donate a toy” is a surprisingly hard instruction. People freeze. What age? What kind? How much should I spend?
Give them something concrete instead:
New and unwrapped, please. Gently used toys are kind, but families receiving them deserve the same unopened box any other child gets.
Think beyond toddlers. Teenagers are the hardest age group to shop for and the most often forgotten. Sports equipment, art supplies, headphones and gift cards all land well.
Anything under twenty dollars is genuinely useful. This is not about big gestures.
If someone would rather shop online, the Ace of Hearts Project Amazon wish list is already built and ships straight to us.
Make it a little bit social
Drives work better when they are not a box sitting in silence.
Some teams run a friendly competition between departments. Some tie it to a lunch or a holiday potluck. Some ask people to bring in the toy they loved most at that age, which turns out to be a lovely conversation starter.
You do not need any of this. But a drive with some life in it will collect two or three times what a quiet one does.
Let people see where it goes
The most common question anyone asks before donating is the one they rarely say out loud: does this actually reach a kid?
This is where the Ace of Hearts Project works differently from most places you could give. Our board of directors is made up entirely of kids. They plan the drives, they sort the toys, and they personally deliver them to families, hospitals and shelters. Nobody hands this off to a warehouse.
Earlier this year, three of our board members — Kevin King, Benny the Jet and Hudson — delivered collection boxes to Treehouse Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics themselves. That is what a partnership looks like here. Kids show up at your door.
Share a photo of the delivery with your team afterward. It closes the loop, and it is the reason people donate again the following year.
What happens after the box is full
We collect it, sort everything, and the kids distribute it through the holidays and into the new year. Toys go to families who requested help, to children’s hospitals, to shelters, and wherever the need is greatest that week.
Since 2023, our kids have delivered more than 25,000 toys and written nearly 15,000 letters to isolated seniors, across more than 100 community events. All of it run by a board whose oldest member is still in middle school.
Earlier this year the Ace of Hearts Project was named Children’s Support Non-Profit Organization of the Year in the Corporate LiveWire Global Awards 2026/27, and received a Fly Together grant from the Anaheim Ducks Foundation. The kids were pleased about both. They were more pleased about the toys.
Ready to start one?
If your company wants to host a drive this season, we will bring the box and handle everything after it is full. Visit our Holiday Toy Drive 2026 page to get started, or reach out through our partnerships page and we will walk you through it.
It takes one person at your office to say yes. Usually that person is reading something like this.