Thirty resident kids of St Angela’s Convent, Bejai, Mangaluru, were delighted by toys and playthings presented to them by Johnlyn Toy Exchange.
They were escorted by Sr Letitia D’Silva, warden of the orphanage, to a presentation function where the children also rendered some melodic and soul-stirring songs.
Johnlyn Toys team headed by John Monteiro, veteran journalist and writer, had launched Johnlyn Toys two years ago in memory of his departed wife, Lynette Monteiro.
John Monteiro’s son Mohan, an avid supporter of the Johnlyn Toys initiative along with John’s daughter, Primrose, have been collecting toys provided by donors in Mumbai, including a recent large consignment which city-based Logistics transported to Mangaluru gratis in a humanitarian gesture.
However, transporting consignments of toys between cities is not an easy task, and the team is exploring ways of collecting more used and presentable toys from Mangaluru itself.
John Monteiro said that orphanages and similar institutions in Mangaluru and its suburbs shelter over 2,200 underprivileged children, of which Johnlyn Toys has been able to reach only about 400 so far.
He appealed to generous and caring people of the city and district to donate their mothballed toys to Johnlyn Toys, to help ensure that every one of the remaining children can be given a toy hamper to play with and cherish.
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