Every year, McInnes Cooper (new window) hosts a volunteer event for incoming law students at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. This year, the corporate law firm tried something a little different, partnering with Makers Making Change to hold a build event, with the adapted toys going to children with disabilities at the IWK Children’s Hospital.

The law students and McInnes Cooper members — many of whom have never soldered before — worked together to make 35 adaptive switches for use with adapted frog and unicorn Bubble Blowers.

“It was gratifying in so many ways,” says Andrea Hewitt, Collective Social Responsibility (new window) & Engagement Advisor at McInnes Cooper. “It was the satisfaction of having created something in a short period of time; challenging yourself to do something you’ve never done before, all in support of a marginalized community. It was a great experience; I can’t say enough about it. It was so easy, so enjoyable, and so gratifying.

“Through our Collective Social Responsibility program, we do a lot of volunteer work [in] some core areas of focus. One of them is youth, and another is diversity, equity, and inclusion, so it was a really great way to marry those values and do something tangible for a community that is disadvantaged and marginalized in so many ways.”

For McInnes Cooper, the build event was a great way to make an impact in the community and engage with incoming law students.

“It’s always been really challenging to find organizations that have the capacity to host a large group of volunteers,” Hewitt says. “Because you have a program and a system in place, it was so easy for your team to just come and set everything up. From a partner’s perspective, it was seamless and just a dream.”

All of the toys and switches from the build event were donated to the IWK Children’s Hospital. (Emily and Victoria from IWK pictured below receiving the devices).

Want to take part in or host a build event of your own? You can find an event (new window) in your area, or contact us (new window) and we would love to help your organization to host an event and adapt toys for children with disabilities.

This post originally appeared on the Makers Making Change (new window) website.