Donations
Donations are a welcome and much appreciated addition to our program. Child life specialists work with hospitalized children of all ages to normalize the hospital experience through therapeutic play and procedural preparation. Toys can play an essential role in helping us work with the children as they lessen the stress of being a patient. Friends of the Child Life Program have always been thoughtful and generous in helping to make a child’s hospitalization at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University hospital as happy and as normal as possible.
We are continuously looking for opportunities to better meet the needs of our patients and families not only during the holiday season, but throughout the entire year. There are currently two ways you can give back:
The Virtual Toy Drive: rwjbh.org/toydrive, allows us to supply our patients with toys and gifts when we need them. It helps us cater to the individual patient needs and make a lasting impression during the child’s hospital visit. It also helps us have a strong impact throughout the year, making special events and activities become a reality.
For groups that would like to fundraise to help us purchase a large item, we can work with your group to select an item (i.e. a gaming system) that can then be purchased with the funds and have the opportunity for recognition on the item itself.
In-Kind Donations: Due to the changing and complex health care needs of our patients, we no longer accept general toy drive donations.
If you would like to donate in-kind items, please visit our Amazon Wish List, which has those toys, games, and supply needs for our patients, is updated throughout the year based on our ever-changing population, and includes items that are hospital approved.
We receive generous support during the holiday season, please consider a mid-year donation instead to help us meet our patient needs year round.
Toy Donation Guidelines- In order to help us prevent infection and maintain the privacy of our patients:
- We will only accept items directly from the amazon wish list
- We can only accept new and unwrapped items
- Unapproved items will not be accepted, this includes anything handmade (cards, blankets, knit hats, etc.)
- Donors cannot visit patient care units and are not permitted to distribute gifts to the patients
Donation drop-offs are by appointment only and must be scheduled ahead of time by contacting the donation coordinator. If you prefer, the items purchased from the amazon wish list can be sent directly to the hospital.
Our drop-off location is the lobby of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital located at;
200 Somerset St.
New Brunswick, NJ
08901
A member from the child life department will meet you at the time of your pre-scheduled appointment.
Yeah round wish list/items always in need of:
- Play-doh
- Matchbox cars
- Bubbles
- Slime
- Infant toys
- Coloring books (no holiday)
- Markers, crayons, colored pencils
- Action figures
- Legos
- Craft kits
- Beauty items (nail polish, lotion, etc.)
- Card games (uno, phase 10, monopoly deal, etc.)
- Pajamas (all sizes, especially teen)
- Gift cards (visa, amazon, Starbucks, DoorDash)
We thank you again for helping to brighten the day for the children, families and staff of The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at RWJUH.
If you have questions or would like to discuss, please feel free to reach out to us at the contact information listed below:
Virtual Toy Drive and Donations
RWJ University Hospital Foundation
RWJUHFoundation@rwjbh.org
732-937-8750
Amazon Wish List and In-Kind Donations
Emma Neely, Senior Child Life Specialist
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at RWJUH
Emma.Neely@rwjbh.org