Blog
Despite a continuing drone of bad economic news and job losses, New Yorkers on the Upper East Side turned out in droves to support Second Chance Toys’ holiday toy drive.
With the help of Glenwood Management, builder, owner and operator of more than 20 luxury apartment buildings, and Agata & Valentina, purveyor of gourmet & specialty foods, the UES neighborhood came to life this week.
Second Chance Toys rescued nearly 150 gently used plastic toys that most certainly would otherwise have been destined for a local landfill. Instead, these toys are being recycled through donations to disadvantaged families. Organizations like Homes for the Homeless, which provides shelter for needy families at 5 NYC locations, is finding a second chance for these non-biodegradable plastics and bringing joy & happiness to needy families at the holidays.
According to Jocelyn Goldberg, founder of the Second Chance Toys’ NYC chapter, "It's touching to see young kids offering up their favorite toys to children they know need them more."
Later this month, big business steps up too with toy drives at Intercontinental Hotels Barclay NY location and Marks Paneth & Shron LLP -- a 500 person regional Accounting & Professional Services firm. These drives are being integrated into this year’s holiday celebrations in an effort to give back to the community. 1-800-Got-Junk? will provide transportation for donations and deliver toys to their new homes in the NY City area.
A truck load of Second Chance Toys was donated to the Boll Family Center at the Detroit YMCA where Lori Bright, Child Development Center Director at the Boll Family YMCA and Lori Z. Bahnmueller, Senior Vice President, Marketing were on hand to accept the toys.
"The team at YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit were fabulous to work with and the event was a great success. The children were on hand to accept the toys with smiles a mile long" notes Deb Jones of 1-800-Got-Junk? who was responsible for collecting and donating the toys to the center.
For our first Chicago effort, 450 gently used plastic toys were collected by Cartridge World Stores in Illinois and were transported by 1-800-Got-Junk? to the Good And Green Conference where they were on display to demonstrate what could have ended up in the landfills. The toys were then transported to the South Side YMCA in time for the holidays.
Standing in front of the display at the Chicago Cultural Center are Cheryl Furstoss and Barbar Esterquest of Cartridge World, Linda Dean of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, Chris Coleman of 1-800-Got-Junk? and Sasha Lipton, founder of Second Chance Toys.
Sasha Lipton presents a certificate of appreciation to Nan McCann, president PME Enterprises, producers of the Good And Green Conference held at the Chicago Cultural Center where Sasha Lipton presented the accomplishments and future goals of Second Chance Toys.
Members of the New Jersey Children's Museum (above) collected over 240 toys as part of their Holiday Toy Drive to benefit Head Start in Bergenfield, NJ. The museum received tremendous feedback from customers who were all thrilled that they were collecting "used" toys since most toy drives this time of year expect a new toy. Customers were equally pleased to hear that the toys were going to local area children in need. The donated toys we're transported by the local 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Franchise Partner of New Jersey Northeast to the Headstart Center (below).
Sasha Lipton, founder of Second Chance Toys, will present a donation of toys to the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago on Wednesday, December 3rd . The donation will take place at the Chicago Cultural Center as part of the Good And Green Marketing Conference.
Five branches of Cartridge World have served as drop-off locations for plastic toy donations around Chicago and its suburbs and area businesses have also participated in toy rescue refforts.
The toys will be piled in a huge mound in the rotunda of the Chicago Cultural Center to demonstate how many toys are thrown needlessly into the landfills.
Second Chance Toys, founded in 2006, has donated over 10,000 toys which has helped minimize plastic going into landfills while at the same helping children. This award-winning organization has been recognized for the waste-need solution it provides to communities.
Evergreen School in Scotch Plains, NJ teamed up with Second Chance Toys to put the "giving" in Thanksgiving. The students collected gently used plastic toys and donated them to Union County Social Services for the 3,000 families in need. The fourth graders tagged the toys and wrote special wishes on the back of each tag.
Second Chance Toys is bringing the joy of the holidays to over 1,000 homeless children with its first Thanksgiving toy drive on New York’s Upper East Side. Proceeds will be donated to Homes for the Homeless serving over 500 homeless families each day at four locations throughout the city. Homes for the Homeless is the nation's largest provider of residential, education and employment training centers. Jocelyn Goldberg, 13-year old behind Second Chance Toys of NYC, recruited classmates from her school and their families to run drives at each of their own apartment buildings in the neighborhood. Jocelyn says, “ I am thrilled to bring cheer to less privileged families and to do something special that will put the “giving†back into Thanksgiving. I know plastic toys eventually find their way into landfills. Recycling is good for the environment and it helps preserve our planet.†To find a new home for your gently used plastic toys, contact Jocelyn at JocelynSCT@nyc.rr.com.
S.H.I.E.L.D. (Students Helping in Education Leadership and Diversity), a program of Psi Sigma Phi Multicultural Fraternity, is spearheading a Second Chance Toys collection at University Academy Charter High School in Jersey City, NJ.
The principles of the group are to provide service to the community, promote leadership development in young males, to promote cultural awareness of themselves as well as their peers and to better prepare for life after high school. They group plans to donate the toys in the following Thanksgiving to the Head Start program in Jersey City.
For any further information about S.H.I.E.L.D. program, please email the faculty adviser to the group, Angel Cora: phiman71@hotmail.com.
Grandparents.com, the place for today’s new generation of active, involved grandparents has made a generous donation of creative sevices as well as plastic toys. The premier online destination, Grandparents.com is where grandparents can find thousands of great kid-friendly places and activities, deals and discounts, expert advice on relationships, personal finance, gift buying and more. Free membership, including a weekly newsletter with featured site content is available at www.grandparents.com. Check it out!
Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season as we prepare to give special gifts for our loved ones. This holiday season will be greatly affected by the uncertainty of our economy and many organizations serving needy children will have fewer toys available for them.
The New Jersey Children’s Museum will be hosting another toy collection program with Second Chance Toys whereby families can bring to the museum a gently used, plastic toy in good condition. In return, they will be given a FREE return pass for a future visit!
Toys will be collected from November 1 through November 30. Drop off times will be weekdays 1pm-5pm and weekends 11am-5pm. All toys must be plastic, (no stuffed animals or dolls), must be substantial in size, in good working condition, no small or missing pieces and toys with battery and or electronic devices must be with batteries and working. Not all toys accepted. One pass per family.
Join the New Jersey Children’s Museum and Second Chance Toys in teaching our children life lesson around giving of themselves to help others and the importance of protecting the environment.
As part of the program, 1-800-GOT-JUNK, will generously donate their services in transporting the collected toys to local organizations serving children in need.
Thank you in advance for providing a gift of happiness for needy children.
New Jersey Children’s Museum
599 Valley Health Plaza
Paramus, NJ 07652
201-262-2638x10 or visit www.njcm.com
Laura Levine-Rubin of The Oaks in Boca Raton will be conducting a gently used plastic toy drive on November 11th and 12th in the children’s wing. The toys will be donated on November 13th to the Florence Fuller Child Development Center and the Foster and Adoptive Parents Association.
Congratulations to the students at Simmons Elementary School in Horsham, PA and Crooked Billet Elementary School in Hatboro, PA for collecting and cleaning literally hundreds of beautiful toys, large and small, to support upcoming Second Chance Toys of PA toy donations. The toys were gathered during an organized toy drive in October and given to Second Chance Toys on Thursday, October 30 in the school cafeteria. They will be distributed to deserving children in our area in the weeks ahead. Way to go, kids!!
An expanded initiative to collect and donate toys for the holidays will be held between December 1st and 9th at all 52 branches of New Jersey based Investors Savings Bank. On December 10th, toys will be transported by 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchisees from the bank branches to organizations throughout the state that serve needy children. Further details and a list of drop-off locations to follow shortly.
Second Chance Toys of PA teamed up with 1-800-GotJunk for a toy drive at Oxford Valley Mall on Saturday, October 11 in preparation for upcoming toy donations to disadvantaged children in the Bucks and Montgomery County areas. Radio Disney provided the entertainment and a wonderful time was had for dozens of kids and parents who participated.
Kyle Scott, Co-founder of SCT of PA and Eric Blum, Franchise Owner for 1800-GotJunk, man the toy donation table at Oxford Valley Mall.
Kyle Scott and youngster enjoy the festivities at Oxford Valley Mall to benefit Second Chance Toys of PA.
Hundreds of useable plastic toys were collected from participating Investors Savings Bank branches serving as Second Chance Toys drop-off locations to benefit disadvantaged children while helping save the environment.
