For the 13th consecutive year, Pacers Sports Entertainment and Jakks Pacific are teaming up to distribute toys to kids across the state of Indiana. The mission kicks off Pacers’ annual Season of Giving, delivered by Papa Johns, and incorporates the efforts of almost a hundred organizations in the community.
Jakks Pacific Toys’ founder and CEO Stephen Berman, in partnership with Pacers’ Chairman and CEO, Herb Simon, have recognized the global need for their efforts this year. The organizations are also offering the distribution of toys to families in Ukraine, with the help of former World Food Programme Executive Director and current Pacers’ Vice-Chairman Jim Morris and multiple Ukraine-based nonprofit partners.
Pacers Sports Entertainment has partnered with Nine13Logistics in Indianapolis to distribute the toys in central Indiana. Nonprofit organizations will also host multiple in-person events throughout the next month to celebrate the team’s efforts.
“Stephen Berman is continually looking to make a real impact in the lives of others, and his immense generosity has made the holidays memorable for so many families in Indiana and beyond,” says Simon. “This year, we are not only able to take care of Hoosier children but those in Ukraine, as well, and it is a wonderful illustration of how he will always step up to help those in need.”
Stephen Berman will be honored on Dec. 12 by the Pacers and NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
The partners have previously donated toys to families following natural disasters, including their “Christmas in July” campaign that gathered more than 14,000 toys for families in southern Indiana in 2012. Since their start in 2009, the companies have distributed thousands of toys with the help of hundreds of local organizations in Indiana.
