The Daily Tell

Toys "R" Us and the Toys "R" Us Children’s Fund are not toying around with their support of Autism Speaks.

According to the company, as it enters its fourth year supporting Autism Speaks, it plans to expand its support to include a fundraising campaign in all of its stores in North America. Part of this expansion will be the first time Toys "R" Us, Canada will join the partnership.

To kick-off this year’s involvement, the Toys "R" Us Children’s Fund awarded Autism Speaks a $400,000 grant.

"Expanding this campaign across all our locations in the U.S. and Canada provides us the opportunity to raise awareness for this disorder among even more of the thousands of parents and caregivers who visit our stores daily," said Jerry Storch, Chairman and CEOof Toys "R" Us. "Through our ongoing partnership, the "R"Us family remains committed to helping Autism Speaks solve the autism puzzle."

The multi-faceted fundraising campaign is expected to run through April, which is Autism Awareness Month.

As part of the campaign, donations will be collected at approximately 850 Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us stores in the United States, and nearly 70 Toys "R" Us stores in Canada. Additionally, donations will be collected on its websites during the campaign’s duration.

Additionally, Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us employees will participate in the Walk Now for Autism Speaks program, a series of fundraising walks held across North America. Toys "R" Us, which has sponsored the event for the past three years, is expanding that reach to include Canada, it said. Autism Speaks raised more than $24.5 million through its Walk Now for Autism Speaks events in North America.

This campaign marks the first time in the company’s extensive philanthropic history that its store networks across North America have joined forces to support a unified philanthropic endeavor.

According to the Autism Society, 1 percent of children in the U.S. between 3 and 17-years-old have an "autism spectrum disorder."
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