6-year-old New Jersey boy collects toys for pediatric patients

To help spread the love for Valentine’s Day, a 6-year-old New Jersey boy has collected over 700 toys to deliver to pediatric patients at Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital.

The 6-year-old, Marty Cox, spent several days in the hospital in October 2021 and was struck with an idea: Why not collect toys for the other children in the hospital?

When Marty was being treated at the Children’s Hospital, he remembered how receiving toys from Child Life specialists made him feel.

"I want to collect as many toys as I can for the kids in the hospital," Marty told his mom in late December. "It made me feel better when I got a toy and maybe it will make other kids feel better, too."

Marty and his family quickly organized a toy drive with the goal of raising 100 toys to spread love to pediatric patients at the Children’s Hospital. Word got out and donations began to roll in from around the country. Nightly, Marty and his family would unpack boxes from California to Florida to Massachusetts and organize the toys along with contributions from neighbors and friends.

Toy companies Melissa & Doug and Lego learned of Marty's impressive efforts and wanted to make their own contribution by sending Lego sets, puzzles and activity books to keep pediatric patients busy. Marty far surpassed his goal and is set to deliver 700+ toys.

Marty will be delivering the toys this Fri., the 11th, sharing the love just before Valentine’s Day at 12 noon at Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital in Hackensack.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

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