May 2010

 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

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.

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