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To our friends at Second Chance Toys:
Once again your organization has overwhelmed us with wonderful toys that are developmentally appropriate for the infants and toddlers whom we serve. The families, children and therapists who serve them will be THRILLED to have such wonderful materials to work with. One of the real strengths of your program is that you get toys that have all of their parts and work! We do not have to sort through them and then discard toys that are unusable.
Pamela Schachter, M.S. Ed
UMDNJ Early Intervention Program Manager
Newark, NJ 07103
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Girl Scout Troop 335 of Manalapan has been very busy this holiday season. As part of their Bronze Award project, the troop held used toy drives in their neighborhoods to benefit Second Chance Toys.
The troop collected over 13 bags of gently used plastic toys in addition to two bags of new toys, two large plastic kitchens, a desk, an art easel and a Barbie jeep. Next, the girls cleaned the toys and made sure they were in working order. The toys were then dropped off to the Marlboro, NJ Branch of Investors Savings bank. They will soon be transported by volunteers from 1-800-Got Junk? to organizations that will distribute them to children in need.
In addition to having lots of fun, the girls learned about the value of recycling to help the environment as well as the importance of helping those less fortunate than themselves.
Check out what a Chicago mom blogger has to say about Second Chance Toys http://kids-help-kids.blogspot.com/
Over 85 drop-off locations are presently available throughout New York and New Jersey. More locations will continue to be added during November.
Hi, my name is Carey Campbell and I’m the mother of three young children, two boys and a girl. They are wonderful! But they seem to come with far too many accessories. I had my three in as many years, so it was very easy to reuse and recycle, but when my little one started to outgrow things, I was in a quandary. Most of the toys she had were plastic and still had a lot of life in them, but we had the youngest children of anyone we knew, so I had a hard time finding them new homes. When my friend suggested I just throw them out because it was easier, I knew I had to do something. That statement officially started my mission. I searched the internet (because that’s what you do when you need an answer immediately) and Second Chance Toys came up. I was sold.
Now, I am the go to mom for recycling. I am very active in my children’s schools and I make it a point to tell their teachers the mission of Second Chance Toys. Last Earth Week was my first time organizing the donations, and it was amazing. We collected over 400 toys (I quit counting after that) and the best part was that I had so many people thanking me because they had nowhere to give their toys to. People want to help, but need to know how, or where to give. Second Chance Toys is an amazing outlet for everyone. I made a lot of friends and have somehow even convinced my 6, 4 ½ and 3 year old that giving toys to OTHER people can feel really good.
Plainview Families LOVE Second Chance Toys!
Second Chance Toys of Sydney Open for Business 
My name is Cheryl Staddon; I am a Mum of two boys aged 12 and 9 and live in a beautiful part of Sydney in New South Wales Australia.
I am passionate about protecting our environment, assisting others in the community that need some extra help and I’m very excited to be starting up Second Chance Toys in Sydney.
Earlier this year I was cleaning out my boys toy cupboards, finding near-new toys stored away that had hardly been played with and wondering what to do with them. Many of these toys were barely used, in great condition and could give kids hours of enjoyment. After handing on some toys to kids of appropriate ages, I was still left with some great toys that were too good to be thrown away.
I spent time researching charities to see if someone would accept used toys and found that a number of charities do but it was my responsibility to get these toys to these organisations. My Husband was convinced that someone in Australia must have a solution to this problem but it appears that so far no one has!
That’s when I came across the website for Second Chance Toys in the USA.
What a fantastic organisation and such a simple idea, to rescue unwanted plastic toys and distribute to children in need through local community organisations, while at the same time, helping the environment.
The wonderful organisers at Second Chance Toys are very happy to assist me in starting up a Sydney affiliation of Second Chance Toys and I will be co-ordinating a couple of toys drives through some local scout groups before Christmas.
I would love to hear from anyone interested in getting involved in Second Chance Toys Sydney either to donate toys, volunteer or become a sponsor.
For more information about Second Chance Toys Sydney, contact Cheryl Staddon by email at siryls1@optusnet.com.au
Following more than 4 years of development and growth, what started as a local community project has grown to become a vital non-profit organization serving our mother earth and needy children everywhere. If you're interested in helping us by making a tax deductible contribution (to the extent allowable by law), please let us know. If you would like to volunteer, we welcome hearing from you as well. Thanks!
It’s as if the writers of Toy Story 3 consulted the Second Chance Toys website to get their material! As Andy leaves for college, his toys are excited at the prospect of being donated to a daycare center and getting a second chance to make other children happy.
The simpler, older-style toys of Toy Story 3 are those that depend more on a child’s imagination to be fully enjoyed. Second Chance Toys was founded on the knowledge that toys are essential tools of play and socialization and are important in helping children develop their imaginations.
The story line also points up the goal of the toys……quite simply, the desire to be loved and played with……. and of course, to avoid the landfill at all costs! Second Chance Toys is happy to be bringing toys and children together and keeping plastics out of our landfills!
May the squeals of joy continue!!
Congregation B’nai Jeshurun (TBJ) ran a used plastic toy drive in partnership with Second Chance Toys during Earth Week, 2010. The religious school and Early Childhood Center (ECC) participated in the toy drive. Collection bins were placed in the TBJ lobby from April 18th through April 25th. We are happy to announce that we collected approximately 6 large plastic garbage bags full of toys of all sizes that were distributed to the ARC of Essex County. We look forward to partnering with Second Chance Toys in the future, as our congregation includes many families eager to help the greater community.
Thanks to everyone who continues to drive our mission and make the achievement of these milestones possible. Together we are truly making a difference!
To my kind & generous friends- both old & new,
I would like to thank every single one of you who donated your children’s toys- and I would especially like to thank all the kids who let them go!
We collected hundreds of toys – on day 2 of the drive I had to stop the tally because I was over 200 already and there were so many more to count. I was, and continue to be blown away by your selflessness. You may think that you were getting rid of some old dust collectors, but you were wrong. What you were really giving was hope. And love. And I will always be so grateful to all of you for that.
The group that was the recipient of your largess is The Guardian Angel Family Crisis Center, a not for profit group of people working to improve the lives of families all over Nassau County. It’s staffed by two social workers Barbara Costello and Elaine Cordova (who are quite gifted in their vocation). They bring many years of social work with them and a tremendous network of 50 social workers involved with the county. When your toys were delivered, social workers came with a list of their most needy families and hand picked “presents†for them. There were so many donations that they were able to host a “toy fair†when they opened their doors and allowed more families from social services to come and select just what they wanted! Everybody was so happy, and the children were delighted. (In fact there was so much, they are doing another pick up next Monday!!)
I know that lately we have all been asked to donate to so many worthwhile causes, and I am so glad and grateful you picked Second Chance Toys, whose mission is to keep plastic toys out of landfills and into the hands of children. Many of the recipients are our neighbors, who because of many factors, now find themselves in desperate need.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!Carey Campbell
Since its inception in 2001, The New York Kids Club (www.nykidsclub.com) has been providing New York City kids a safe haven to learn, play, have fun and grow. Kids get a chance to swing on gyms, rock climb, play soccer, paint, sing, and cook up their own gourmet dishes while they work off a whole lotta steam. From the Upper West Side down to Brooklyn Heights NYKC’s 6 locations have become a community within the community for children 6 months - 12 years.
An important part of being a community, though, is giving back to the community. Under the visionary leadership of founder Pam Wolf, the New York Kids Club is constantly seeking new ways to get involved. As organizations begin tightening their purse strings in light of the current economic ebb, NYKC has pledged to continue to make charitable contributions and participation a top priority.
This spring, NYKC teamed up with Second Chance Toys to transform the fun into a good and green campaign to support Earth Day. Families rallied by donating their favorite “gently used†plastic toys to kids in the community that aren’t as fortunate.
“This year’s collection was over the topâ€, according to Jocelyn Goldberg, 15-year old founder of Second Chance Toys’ New York City Chapter. “We collected over 3,600 plastic toys that would have ultimately wound up in city landfills. Instead, they now are getting a second chance to brighten the day of children that really will appreciate them.â€
Toys were donated to the Educational Alliance, Association to Benefit Children, and Homes for the Homeless. These organizations work tirelessly to provide shelter and educational programs serving tens of thousands of families in need each year. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? helped bring it all together by transporting toy donations from NYKC to each of the facilities.
For the past 2 months, the students at JFK Elementary School in Jamesburg, NJ, have been working on a project to recycle gently used toys. After the toys were brought to school, the Student Council cleaned them and made sure they were in good working order. The kids learned the value of recycling to help our environment, as well as the importance of giving to children in need. We donated approximately 200 toys to Catholic Charities in New Brunswick, NJ. The drive was extremely successful.
We would like to thank Second Chance Toys for sharing this idea with us and making a difference in the lives of many children.
Our first collection in Virginia was a success! The Moms Club of Haymarket, Virginia contributed 75 of their children’s toys to send to Appalachia. Renee Johnson, Administrative Vice President of the Moms Club, spearheaded the effort. Because the toys were donated to Sharing and Caring Hands, which serves the very needy of Appalachia, it was an especially gratifying experience.
First, I want to say I am so glad to have gotten involved with Second Chance Toys. While searching for a place to donate my own gently used toys, I came across the website and was inspired by the story of how this organization came to be. This was my first volunteer effort since being a stay at home mom for the past 3 years and it was a very rewarding experience. I have to thank Greenwich Nursery School and Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church for helping distribute flyers and allow me to use their lot as the toy collection site. After sorting through all of the toys that people brought, I ended up with approximately 45 to 50 that were in great condition. There were quite a few more received that did not meet the requirements and in my opinion, were too old, dirty, and battered looking with missing pieces to accept for donation. I cleaned, sanitized, and bagged all of the toys and delivered them to Investors Savings Bank in Clinton on April 21st where they were very appreciative and a great pleasure to deal with. I was sad to see they had only received one toy by that time, so I felt so good about my collection. All in all, I think it was a huge success for me personally and for Second Chance Toys. I think it is wonderful that these toys are going to end up in the hands of less fortunate children who will truly appreciate them, but we kept a lot of plastic out of the landfills as well. Thanks again for inspiring me to get involved and please keep me in mind for any future volunteer opportunities. This was truly a wonderful experience and I look forward to doing more with Second Chance Toys in the future. Dina PintoClinton, NJ
Trailside Museum included a collection of Second Chance Toys during its Earth Day educational programs and activities. Park Naturalist, Rebecca Novorro, who spearheaded the collection during Trailside’s first Earth Day celebration, was enthusiastic about keeping these non-biodegradable plastics out of our landfills. She noted, “We wanted to invite our community to join us in having fun while honoring the Earth and recognizing the different ways we impact it. We were thrilled with how many people were eager to pledge promises to the planet for the upcoming year, take home a Sycamore seedling to plant, and donate their gently used toys in order to reduce the waste we generate and reuse the toys in a productive way. Thanks Second Chance Toys for providing an incredible means to encourage people to reduce, reuse, and recycle!!†The 125 toys donated by residents all over Union County went to the Community Coordinated Childcare program in Hillside.
With the continued partnership of the wonderful team at 1-800-Got-Junk?, Second Chance Toys of PA sponsored a number of toys collections throughout the Greater Philadelphia community during Earth Week 2010. Toy drives were sponsored by several companies including TargetRx, Inc., VMS Movement Specialists LLC, Take Care Health, Inc. In addition, Oxford Valley Mall and Yardley Community Borough pitched in to lend a helping hand. Best of all, three local elementary schools got into the game with enthusiastic groups of local kids working together to shine up hundreds and hundreds of beautiful gently used plastic toys for deserving kids in our area. Hats off to the children, faculty, staff and parents at Gladwyne Elementary, Penn Valley Elementary and Lower Merion Elementary schools! What a great job by all! Recycling the toys and helping the kids in our area is what it is all about! Thank you!!
Through the efforts of Investors Savings Bank, whose 65 branches served as toy drop off locations, and with the trucks and manpower of 1-800-Got-Junk? franchisees Drew Trautman, Doug Martin, and Jim Barrett, who picked up and delivered the toys to 20 organizations, nearly three thousand gently used plastic toys were collected and donated on this Earth Day all over New Jersey to children in need. This also means that as many toys were kept out of our landfills and are still providing hours of play, interaction and squeals of joy for so many youngsters. Many thanks to Investors Savings Bank and 1-800-Got Junk? for their continued support of our twice annual collections!
Passaic City Hall was bustling with many youngsters and their parents on Earth Day for Mayor Blanco’s presentation of Second Chance Toys. The children’s eyes widened as Drew Trautman of 1-800-Got-Junk? arrived with a truck load of gently used plastic toys which were gathered from the NJ statewide collection of toys at Investors Savings Bank branches. Bronna Lipton of Second Chance Toys asked the children about the three Rs of the environment and they added their suggestions on how to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Miriam Gonzalez, of Human Services for the city of Passaic, coordinated the event in which Mayor Dr. Alex D. Blanco spoke to the children and parents and underscored the importance of recycling and how we must care for our Earth. The children got to pick out their toys and there was no doubt that both they and the earth were happier for it!!!
