Toy company Mattel teamed up with Go Baby Go, a program that provides modified toy cars, Wednesday to make adjustments to toys so that children with disabilities can play a bit easier and enjoy toys that were previously unavailable to them.
"Every day, she's been waking up asking if we're going to Mattel," Kalle Faruki, a mother who brought her daughter Dilyn to the event, said.
Faruki says Dilyn has been looking forward to this moment for days.
And that's exactly what Cole Galloway, Go Baby Go's founder, intended.
"Kids need to be mobile and play," Galloway said. "That's a human right they have."
Thanks to the partnership and Mattel joining forces, even those with severe mobility issues -- like Dilyn -- have that opportunity.
"She is not able to drive a car with her feet, so now, we have it so she can use her hands," Dilyn's mother says.
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Galloway says the partnership with Mattel was an easy choice.
"We contacted Fisher-Price and Mattel and said, 'We want to hack your toys,' and they went, 'That's awesome; we will partner with you.'"
So, on Wednesday, 100 Mattell employees worked with the children to modify toys and make them more functional and comfortable.
"We're customizing over 20 vehicles, which are specific to each child," Marissa Beck from Mattel said during Wednesday's event.
And then, the kids got to hit the track for the first time.
"The reaction has been priceless," Beck said.
"(Dilyn) can keep up with other kids in a way we haven't before, even just the kids in the cul de sac with bikes and scooters," Faruki said.
The elated mom added, "She can now go and keep up with them and rip around the neighborhood."
