Toy Closet Program

A hospital stay can be scary and lonely for a child. The goal of the Toy Closet Program is to provide each pediatric patient with an age-appropriate toy or small gift when they are discharged from Yale New Haven Children's Hospital. Toys are given out 365 days a year.

The program was started in 1993 by News 8 anchor Ann Nyberg and the Yale New Haven Hospital Auxiliary, led by Marjan Wackers. Since then, the program has proven to be an enduring success. It has wide-ranging support from the hospital staff, civic and service organizations, school and university groups and local businesses and benefits from numerous individual and family donations.

Donate to the Toy Closet Program

This year the Toy Closet Program supplied more than 150,000 toys to locations in our hospitals, Emergency Departments and Pediatric Specialty Centers from Old Saybrook to Greenwich. Your donations help make that possible.  

Toy donations may be accepted via in-person drop-offs at the hospital. Call 203-688-5717 to schedule a convenient drop-off time.

You may also purchase toys from this registry. Toys can be ordered from a suggested wish list and will be shipped directly to the Toy Closet.

We also welcome monetary donations to the Toy Closet Program. For information about making a financial contribution, please call 203-688-5717 or send an email to [email protected].

The success of our program is not just based on the donations we receive, but on the dedication of our volunteers. Click the link to sign up to become a volunteer for this important cause.

Sign up to volunteer