FAIRLAWN, Ohio — At a shopping spree toy drive in Fairlawn on Friday, 3News' Stephanie Haney and Mike Polk Jr. helped select thousands of dollars worth of toys for the patients at Akron Children's Hospital thanks to the generosity of the Robert J. Ina Smiles Foundation.
The charity founder Bobby Ina celebrated the 10th anniversary of this toy drive by dedicating it to child life specialists, who were on hand to help guide shoppers including Attorney General Dave Yost, US Representative for Ohio Max Miller and Parma City Council Ward 6 representative Kevin Kussmaul in choosing the most appropriate items for the kids.
"What most people don't realize is that there are about 200 kids who spend the holidays in Akron Children's Hospital, and child life specialists help those children and their families cope with the stress and anxiety of that," Bobby said, kicking off the event by making it clear what a critical role these dedicated caregivers play in their patients' treatment, and lives.
Child life specialist Olivia Dujanovic shared how special it is to be a part of bringing a smile to young faces, especially when they're away from home for the holidays.
"It's pretty incredible, the smiles on their faces," Olivia said. "They're not expecting us to have these fun new toys at the hospital, especially when they're not feeling well. So when you are able to bring something into their room, it really makes them sit up and it brightens up their day."
Longtime toy drive contributor Jennifer Adamczyk shared how impactful these caregivers have been in her life, as she has firsthand experience with the magic they can bring to a medical facility.
"Back in 2020 and 2021, we were a hospital family," Jennifer said. "Our firstborn Savannah spent 7 months in the Cleveland Clinic PICU waiting on a heart transplant."
Unfortunately, Savannah's heart never came, and on February 22, 2021, their family lost Savannah at just 14 months old.
"While we were [living in the hospital], we experienced the generosity and support from folks like Bobby, with what he's doing with this toy drive, and the child life specialists team. They really are there to help make your day and make you feel almost normal in a situation that is anything but normal. So to be able to help others experience that is really important to us."
Jennifer said this year's toy drive has extra personal meaningful for her, because the patients at Akron Children's Hospital will get their gifts on December 23, which was Savannah's birthday. They hope to be a part of delivering the gifts that day, in Savannah's memory.
The donations that made the shopping spree possible came in part from Bobby's clients, Sheet Metal Workers Local 33, a group which has contributed more than $60,000 to this toy drive over the past decade. (Ina is the managing partner of Metropolis Consulting LLC, a firm which specializes in lobbying, governmental affairs and business development in Ohio.)
Together on Friday morning, Stephanie and Mike were responsible for loading up several carts with $2,000 worth of stuffed animals, electronics, action figures, Legos, Lite Brites and so much more.
In total, the shoppers checked out $12,000 worth of toys, which will make their way to Akron Children's Hospital along with a $5,000 donation.
The Robert J. Ina Smiles Foundation toy drive has donated at least $175,000 in toys and funds for the benefit of kids being treated at Akron Children's Hospital, since its inception in 2015.
For those who are moved to donate, anyone can send toys for patients at Akron's Children's Hospital to the following address:
Akron Children's Hospital
Att: Volunteer Services- Toy Drive
One Perkins Square
Akron, OH 44308