For the 13th consecutive year, Pacers Sports & Entertainment and JAKKS Pacific Toys are teaming up to deliver toys this Holiday season to thousands of Hoosier children across Indiana, and this year the organizations are making a global impact. The program, which once again tips off PS&E’s annual Season of Giving delivered by Papa Johns, leverages the power of nearly a hundred community organizations to bring smiles to the faces of vulnerable children and their families.
This amazing yearly tradition is made possible by the incredible generosity of JAKKS Pacific founder and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Berman and his long-standing friendship with Herb Simon, PS&E Chairman & CEO. Identifying a new and pressing need this year, moreover, the two men decided to expand the effort to deliver thousands of toys and apparel to families in the Ukraine displaced by the ongoing conflict. Collaborating with the World Food Programme, former WFP Executive Director and current PS&E Vice-Chairman Jim Morris, and a series of Ukraine-based nonprofit partners, Berman and PS&E worked to ensure the program, which has impacted so many Hoosier children for more than a decade, could bring Holiday cheer to families devastated by war.
“We are truly excited, in addition to our annual toy donations we do with the Indiana Pacers every December, to be extending our ongoing partnership with the Indiana Pacers this year to include a toy donation through the World Food Programme to help families and children in the Ukraine this holiday season,” said Berman. “JAKKS has worked diligently to ensure we could help Ukrainians in a time of need. With the addition of our friends at Jerry Leigh and Next Level Apparel in this effort we are collectively providing toys, warm clothing and hopefully some much needed relief for the Ukrainians.
Since 2009, the partnership has resulted in hundreds of thousands of toys given away by hundreds of organizations around the state.
Today's distribution is taking place at 4 p.m. at Rockville Elementary.
“Stephen Berman is continually looking to make a real impact in the lives of others, and his immense generosity has made the holidays memorable for so many families in Indiana and beyond,” said Simon. “This year, we are not only able to take care of Hoosier children but those in Ukraine, as well, and it is a wonderful illustration of how he will always step up to help those in need.”
This is not the first time the partners have pivoted to meet a specific need, as Berman and JAKKS Pacific has responded to children in Indiana and beyond during times of crises. Following the devastating tornado that ravaged Henryville in the spring of 2012, PS&E and JAKKS celebrated “Christmas In July” and sent more than 14,000 toys for distribution to local families in southern Indiana. JAKKS Pacific also expanded toy distribution to Orlando, Houston, and Miami in 2017 when families in those cities were impacted by severe hurricanes.
Toys are sorted and delivered to the local partners, who in turn distribute the toys to the families they serve in their communities. This year, PS&E has partnered with Nine13Logistics in Indianapolis, an offshoot of local nonprofit Nine13sports, to deliver the toys to partners in central Indiana.
PS&E will host a series of in-person distribution events throughout the state in late November and December, events hosted by local nonprofits that bring together local officials, Pacers and Fever alumni and personalities, and other special guests. Additionally, the Pacers and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will honor Berman on December 12 with an in-game presentation when the team takes on the Miami Heat at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
