17.10.2011
Two great Kladno natives are partnering up to bring smiles to hospitalized children nation-wide!
Two great Kladno natives are partnering up to bring smiles to hospitalized children nation-wide!
Few people know that the city of Kladno is home to one of the biggest LEGO assembly and packing plants in the world and it is here that the company sports Europe’s biggest automated warehouse. In Kladno, one of only three European LEGO production facilities, the plant assembles and packages its award winning toys for the entire European continent and beyond. It seems only natural that C4C’s Dr. Clown program, also having its base near Kladno, would partner up with this giant to bring smiles and happiness to children battling disease and sickness in hospitals all over the Czech Republic.
Like so often, it all started off with a phone call from the C4C office: would LEGO have any production spares it could share with C4C’s hospital clown initiative, for distribution to hospitalized children during their clown visits? The Dr. Clown team could hardly think of a better present than the “gold standard” toys from LEGO to leave with ailing children, to take their minds off their hospital surroundings, fight boredom and conjure a smile up on their faces.
While hoping for a positive answer, the team was not entirely prepared for the overwhelming response that came from the legendary toy company: 10 pallets full of assorted LEGO toys worth approximately 500.000 CZK were waiting to be picked up immediately and the Danish “mother ship” had confirmed approval of an additional, incredible 3.5 million CZK of toys – enough to cover every one of the hundreds of hospital playrooms in the country with an adequate supply of LEGO sets!
“I guess it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work”, smiles Rafal Wojas, C4C’s co-founder and director of the Dr. Clown initiative, “there are literally thousands of hospitalized kids waiting for these LEGO sets!”
Jana Vlasáková, head of the Czech LEGO Foundation, invited the Kladno Dr. Clown team for a tour of the state-of-the-art plant on the city’s outskirts, a rare privilege granted by a company used to guard its secrets of success and its cutting-edge technology.
“We’re excited and happy to be cooperating with the Dr. Clown program”, comments Jana during the hour long tour. “I guess we’re both in the business of bringing joy and happiness to children. It’s a perfect match!”
And as the clowns left, with their truck full of toys designated for hospitalized children nation-wide, there remained no doubt in anyone’s mind that the commitment to corporate social responsibility of this toy industry behemoth wasn’t in word only, but in deed as well!
