Riley’s Toys Foundation’s, Riley Hebbard was recently selected as a regional nominee in the Kohl’s Cares program receiving a $50 gift card and recognition certificate from Kohl’s department store.

The program, Kohl’s Cares is part of the department store chain’s corporate social responsibility efforts and provides children with positive re-enforcement for volunteering in addition to thousands of dollars in scholarships and non-profit support.

From the Kohl’s website…

Every year, Kohl’s recognizes and rewards young volunteers (ages 6-18) across the country for their amazing contributions to their communities. This year we are recognizing more than 13,000 kids with more than $2.6 million in scholarships and prizes.

The selection process first starts on a local, then regional, and, ultimately, a national level. At each turn Kohl’s selects winners based on, “the project, benefits and outcome.”

Some quick facts about the program…

• In total, Kohl’s will recognize nearly the 2,200 nominees with nearly $420,000 in scholarships and prizes this year.

• Since the program began in 2001, Kohl’s has awarded more than 13,000 youth volunteers with more than $2.6 million in scholarships and prizes.

Read more via The Sentinel’s article, Local Students Recognized by Kohl’s for Volunteer Work.

Quick facts on Riley’s Toys Foundation…

• Since 2009 has shipped more than 18k toys to refugee and orphan children in locations throughout continental Africa including Zimbabwe, Lethoso, and Zambia.
• Started by, then four year-old, Riley Hebbard who has seen a television program showcasing the lives of children in Darfur, Sudan. Riley asked her mother to send her toys to the children in the television program, who had no toys at their schools. Later, Riley asked others including her pre-school class, church, elementary school classes, and others to get involved by donating.
• Others can support Riley’s Toys Foundation by bringing gently-used and new toys to drop-off locations (no battery operated or violence related toys please), by making monetary contributions, or by volunteering to count toys and/or perform other necessary activities.
• Riley’s Toys has an annual Summer Toy Drive (going on now) each year from May to August, and hope to send 10+ pallets of toys (approximately 10k toys) to children this fall.