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The weather was wet but it did not dampen the spirits of the Second Chance Toys of PA family and partners, the Philadelphia Phillies. In celebration of Earth Day 2009, the intrepid SCT squad was on hand at the ballpark to collect toys from Phillies fans. Toy collection boxes were set up at seven entrances to the ballpark and hundreds of toys were collected for local children. Thanks to the Phillies and their fans for helping the environment and local children in need!
For the past two years, teenagers Kyle and Cara Scott and their family have spearheaded the growth of Second Chance Toys of PA. Their grassroots efforts have paid off. Teaming with local families, schools, churches, companies and most recently the Philadelphia Phillies, the Scotts have now recycled over 4,000 gently used plastic toys and distributed them to young, deserving children in our community. It is a win for the environment and for young kids who need and deserve the toys to learn and have fun. Thank you to all who have lent a hand in this labor of love. Four thousand toys is a milestone number, but just the beginning!
Second Chance Toys of PA paid a visit to the seventy-two children at Logan Head Start on Thursday, April 23, and the kids were thrilled. With the transportation help of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, a truckload of great plastic toys were delivered to the children. It was like Christmas in April! Lots of happy faces on the day following Earth Day 2009.
Jocelyn Goldberg, a 13-year-old Upper East Side student who founded the NY chapter of Second Chance Toys, has organized a citywide toy collection to mark Earth Week and National Child Abuse Month. Second Chance Toys is an organization that recycles gently used plastic toys by donating them to children in need. Schools, religious organizations and businesses throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn have mobilized drives to recycle plastic toys which do not biodegrade and often wind up in city landfills. Donations go to community based organizations serving families in need.
According to Jocelyn, "this drive gives kids a chance to help other kids through a program that focuses on those less fortunate and the environment. In a large city like NY, there can be a great disparity between those that have and those that don't. It is a great lesson for students to get involved and give up something of their own to help others."
Plastic toys are being collected and transported to local charities and community shelters by 1-800-GOT-Junk?, a full service junk removal company which has volunteered its trucks for transport.
Many of the of toys collected this week are being donated to the Prospect Family Support Center, a crisis center for women and children from Abused Families. According to Dona Anderson, Senior Program Associate & Camp Services Coordinator, "Homes for the Homeless provides early on-site childcare and childhood education to over 100 young homeless children every day. National Child Abuse Month is a special time of year that acknowledges the importance of families and communities working together to prevent child abuse in all its forms". For more information on Homes for the Homeless programs and services please go to go to http://www.homesforthehomeless.com/
Full article: click here
Monday, April 13, 2009
BY HARVY LIPMAN
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
HELP THE NEEDY AND RECYCLE, KIDS LEARN
The New Jersey Children's Museum in Paramus is in the midst of a second drive to collect toys for needy kids while at the same time teaching children the value of recycling.
As of Sunday, the museum had received a couple dozen donations as part of its collaboration with Second Chance Toys, a Mountainside charity that collects used plastic items and redistributes them to families who can't afford to buy toys.
"It teaches children to understand what recycling is, how they can help the environment while helping other children," said Josephine DaCosta, the museum's assistant manager. She added that the museum put on its first Second Chance Toys drive last April, when the staff decided they needed an environmental project to coincide with Earth Day.
"We collected about 250 toys last April," DaCosta said. That effort was so successful, she added, that the museum put on another drive around Thanksgiving – taking in 350 more.
The current collection campaign runs through this month but will be a major focus this weekend, which is just before Earth Day on April 22.
"We're having a recycling weekend next weekend, where we'll be teaching children how to take part in recycling," DaCosta said. "We're also going to be doing crafts using recycled materials and we'll have special music programs."
The museum is accepting plastic toys suitable for children up to age 6. "They must be of substantial size — no small pieces — and they have to be working. If they need batteries, they have to have batteries," DaCosta said. "We clean them up and disinfect them."
Anyone who brings a suitable toy to the museum receives a coupon for a free return visit.
Second Chance Toys, which was created three years ago by Sasha Lipton, then a Mountainside high school student who now attends Northwestern University, distributes the toys to local non-profits. DaCosta said this year's recipient organizations haven't been selected yet. Last year, she said, the toys were sent to Concerned Parents for Head Start in Paterson and the Bergenfield Head Start program.
CHRIS PEDOTA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Josephine DaCosta of the New Jersey Children's Museum in Paramus with donated toys. The museum's collection drive corresponds with Earth Day, which falls on April 22.
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Fans attending that game are encouraged to bring ‘gently used’ plastic toys in good working condition and drop them off in specially marked bins at seven entrances into the Citizens Bank Park. The toys will be donated to charities and centers for children throughout the community.
The high-profile collection is expected to net hundreds of toys that would have likely otherwise ended up in the landfill. It’s a win for less fortunate children and it’s a win for the environment.
“We are overjoyed that The Phillies share our commitment to helping the environment and kids,” says Kyle Scott, 17, who started up the Pennsylvania chapter of Second Chance Toys with his sister Cara, 16, who adds, “the kids will be thrilled to get toys from Phillies fans.”
Cara and Kyle have donated nearly 3,000 toys to charities since starting the local chapter two years ago. Second Chance Toys frequently enlists the help of local junk removal company 1-800-GOT-JUNK? to transport the toys to children’s organizations throughout the area.
Thanks to Marc Brownstein and the fabulous creative team at Brownstein Group Brand Communications of Philadelphia for lending their services to Second Chance Toys of PA in support of upcoming Earth Day toy collections and donations. Have a look at their fabulous designs for signage to promote our organization's efforts to keep gently used plastic toys out of the landfills and get them into the appreciative hands of deserving children throughout our community. THANK YOU!!!
Find a location near you and help do good and green. Our planet and many disadvantaged children will thank you dearly!
Go ahead........lend a hand!
Philadelphia Phillies to hold toy drive at Citizens Bank Park, April 22 pre-game collection (game begins at 7:00P). For details click here
St Elizabeth’s Church in Wyckoff, NJ recently held a Second Chance Toys collection and was able to donate 200 toys to the children of Honduras. Pictured here are some of the toys that were loaded up to be shipped to Central America.
Once again, Investors Savings Bank branches throughout New Jersey will participate in a statewide toy collection program with Second Chance Toys.
1-800-GOT-JUNK? will be providing transportation of the toys from the bank branches to organizations serving disadvantaged children.
A list of drop-off locations will be posted shortly.
Second Chance Toys with be conducting a city-wide plastic toys drive fo Earth Week to culminate at the Go Green Expo in New York City. For more information on the Expo go to www.gogreenexpo.com
When Second Chance Toys got an email from concerned citizens, Pam and Isabel Reyna, who wanted to prevent their toys and their friends’ toys from ending up in the landfills, Second Chance Toys found them an organization that would gladly accept their collection of plastic toys in good condition. The High Ridge YMCA of the Chicago Metropolitan area was the recipient of 50 beautiful toys!!
Here are some happy faces from kids in the Educational Alliance’s early childhood program along with toys provided by Second Chance Toys’ holiday toy drive.
University Academy Charter High School in Jersey City worked with Second Chance Toys to conduct a month long plastic toy drive at their school. The drive was spearheaded by teacher, Mr. Angel Cora along with the associate member students of the Psi Sigma Phi Multicultural Fraternity. The students worked hard to collect, clean and sort the toys. The Jubilee Center in Hoboken, NJ was thrilled to receive the 200 toys donated.
Brownie Troop 193, under the leadership of Cyndie Decowski, collected 150 toys and donated them to the NORWESCAP Head Start program in Washington, NJ. Pictured here are the girls who cleaned, sorted and counted all the toys and presented a meaningful donation this past December.
