Joshua Scarver and #DWYD Brand Work to Collect Toys for Local Children Impacted by Abuse
Scarver uses the #DWYD (Do What You Desire) lifestyle brand to help reach children served by the Milwaukee Child Advocacy Center, affiliated with Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. An organization that is not in the forefront of community’s attention due to many of the privacy barriers that keep donors from seeing who they are helping. MCAC is centered on bringing children and teens who are impacted by abuse and neglect to a safe place while investigating cases to help victims and their families. Nearly 3,500 children come through the doors of the Milwaukee Child Advocacy Center annually and they rely heavily on the charity and kindness of others. The donated items help provide comfort and reassurance to victims. Each child and teen that visits the center is offered a toy and a book to make a stressful day a bit more bearable for a child in an unfortunate situation.
It’s about raising awareness and motivating companies to get involved with helping the community
Joshua Scarver’s brand #DWYD is rounding on its seventh year working to collect toys and books for local children who have been impacted by abuse. #DWYD holds an annual Toy and Book Drive in which the community can drop off a toy or book at one of the local companies throughout Waukesha, Milwaukee and Ozaukee counties. In 2017 over 3,000 books and toys were collected from 16 donation locations. Other companies involved in donations that do not have access to the general public were Harley-Davison Motor Co., Fashion Angels that donated children’s craft kits and play time fashion items, Half-Price Books that donated over a thousand books, the Milwaukee Bucks that donated bobble heads and a handful of businesses such as Caroline’s Jazz Club, MJ Marketing along with individuals that donated monetarily. The money was then used to purchase sport items (basketballs, soccer balls, footballs, etc.) for children around the ages of 10 to 17 years old who aren’t typically pictured when buying a toy.
Scarver and his fiancé, Bekah Lustig, were the driving force behind starting this project “We are not a nonprofit organization, just two people on a mission to make a difference in the community” he said. Throughout the year they network with donation sites and create events such as gift wrapping books at Barnes and Noble for donations.
After the first year of accepting toys at a local restaurant/nightlife lounge, the drive took on a life of its own,” Scarver said about the project. He currently spends multiple hours throughout the day dedicated to spreading awareness and connecting with people and companies on social media and in person. He can be reached through is personal website www.joshuascarver.com
To find out how to help, email Joshua Scarver at info@joshuascarver.com or call him at 414-745-6233.
