Local Programs

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!!!

 
Evergreen School students collected toys once again for their third annual Earth Week toy collection. Students wrote bilingual messages on the back of Second Chance Toys tags and hung them on the toys as a way of showing they cared. They learned about plastic toys not biodegrading in our landfills and collected 300 good as new toys that went to helping Honduras.

The students at Mt. Horeb School collected toys for Earth Week and learned about the importance of keeping plastics out of our landfills. The 250 toys they collected were donated to Helping Honduras. Bravo to the children for a job well done!

Thanks to everyone contributing to our Earth Week toy drive! Next up....thousands of smiling kids.
 

In an effort to prevent unwanted plastic toys from clogging our landfills, Evergreen School in Scotch Plains, NJ conducted its third annual Earth Week toy collection with Second Chance Toys  (www.secondchancetoys.org). Fourth grade students helped organize and tag over 300 toys that were collected with bilingual messages. The toys were donated to Helping Honduras .

You have plastic toys. They have plastic toys. The family down the street has plastic toys. But so many needy young children go without them.
With Earth Week drives in full gear, 1-800-Got-Junk? helps make it all happen. With their full fleet of truck teams, they transport thousands of toys from dozens of collection sites to organizations serving needy children. We thank all the Franchise Partners who make it all possible. You are truly helping to make a difference. Both Good and Green!!!