PAWTUCKET, R.I. (September 12, 2005) -- Hasbro, Inc. today announced a $500,000 donation to benefit the children and families affected by Hurricane Katrina. Also today, Hasbro's TONKA brand kicked off the TONKA TRUCK TOUR, a national holiday toy drive to benefit children's charities in select US cities across the country. Departing from Hasbro's corporate headquarters in Rhode Island, the tour will travel to 14 states to collect toy donations.
As part of the donation to Hurricane Katrina victims, Hasbro is working with relief organizations to donate toys and games valued at more than $450,000, which will be distributed to emergency shelters beginning now through the holiday season. New toys collected from children and their families at the TONKA TRUCK TOUR events will be donated to hometown organizations that will handle toy distribution to local children in need. In addition to its donation of toys and games, Hasbro has also made an initial $50,000 cash donation to the American Red Cross to help people affected by Hurricane Katrina. Hasbro will continue to work with authorities in the affected areas in supporting additional programs.
"Hasbro and our employees have embraced the opportunity to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina in a variety of ways," said Brian Goldner, President of Hasbro's U.S. Toys. "While we know that the children and families in these areas all have unique and often tragic circumstances as a result of this natural disaster, we also know that kids need to resume being kids as soon as possible. We sincerely hope that our holiday donation of toys and games will help in their recovery.
"In addition, we hope that children and families who visit our TONKA TRUCK TOUR will also drop off a new toy that will be distributed by local charitable organizations to kids in need in their own community," Goldner said.
The TONKA TRUCK TOUR will feature a life-size, road worthy replica of the nostalgic yellow TONKA Dump Truck. The larger-than-life TONKA TOUGHEST MIGHTY DUMP Truck begins its journey at Hasbro headquarters in Pawtucket, RI and will visit approximately 50 Wal-Mart stores in 14 different states across the country including Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Arizona and California, where the TONKA team will be collecting toy donations for children in need.
To track the progress of the jumbo TONKA TOUGHEST MIGHTY DUMP Truck and learn more about how to participate in the TONKA TRUCK TOUR, consumers can visit www.tonkatrucktour.com beginning September 12. There will be weekly updates, including photos of where the truck has visited and information on where it's headed next.
For over 50 years, TONKA has been the trusted name in rugged vehicle play and the #1 choice among parents and children for high quality, authentic-looking, rough-and-tumble trucks.
Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time entertainment products and services, including the design, manufacture and marketing of games and toys ranging from traditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the U.S., its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world.
