Toy Donations

The Roots and Wings Family Daycare Center in Skillman, NJ is closing and needed to find a home for 200 toys. They contacted Second Chance Toys and were very happy to find a way to put these toys to good use. These toys, including some large plastic playground toys and two large plastic houses were all part of the donation that went to Helping Honduras. The large playground toys will be used at schools and community centers that help the poor.

The Girl Scouts at Brayton School held a Second Chance Toys collection at their school on May 3rd. They worked very hard to collect, clean and tag 200 toys with Second Chance Toys hang tags. Coordinated by Sara Kaplan, the girls and their parents were happy to take part in a really meaningful program that not only helped children less fortunate than they, but one that would help the environment too! It was a great way to learn to reuse and recycle. Their toys are being shipped to Honduras to help children all over the country.

The Goddard School in Sparta, NJ in cooperation with Second Chance Toys conducted a toy rescue and recycling program led by the PTO. Over 145 toys were collected and donated to the Branchville Head Start.

The Brownies of Amsterdam Elementary School Troop 35 collected approximately 250 toys from many generous people in the community.

Chelsea, Julie, Taylor, Isabella, Ann Marie, Jessica, Jenna, Angela, Christina, Cara, and Riya spent part of a meeting decorating a toy collection box and creating a poster for the Toy Rescue Drive.  For the poster, Co-Op Leader Claudia Ganas helped each girl trace their hand and titled it “The Earth is in Our Hands”.  They placed the flyer to collect clean, gently used toys in the center of their poster.  They also sent a flyer home with all students in their school. For the next two weeks they watched their toy collection box overflow in the entry way of their school.     

The photo with some of the brownies was taken after only the first week of the troops toy rescue efforts. The teachers from the Somerset County Head Start programs at 3 different schools will get first pick of the toys for their classrooms. The remaining toys will go to low income families in the local community. "Great job girls and great program Second Chance Toys" noted the Co-Op Troop Leader, Alisa Ugalde, who organized the program.          

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Second Chance Toys of PA announced today that Earth Week toy donations benefited hundreds of children in our area and have helped catapult total donations to more than1,500 toys. Second Chance Toys of PA is a community-based program started by local high-school students, Kyle and Cara Scott, that collects and recycles gently used plastic toys for distribution to disadvantaged children throughout our region.

The Scotts have been collecting toys since the summer of 2007 with donations often provided by families whose kids have outgrown toys that are still in good condition.  For Earth Week, many others in our local community also pitched in to help. Toy drives were successfully run by students at Hallowell Elementary School in Horsham, employees of Kulicke & Soffa, Inc. in Fort Washington, and the Brownies of Pine Run Elementary School in New Britain.  Eric Blum, local franchise owner for 1-800-GOT-JUNK? (http://www.1800gotjunk.com/us_en/), also volunteered and helped transport collected toys to some of the donation centers.  During Earth Week, hundreds of low-income, deserving children in Warminster, North Philadelphia, Pottstown, Mercer County, and Trenton, NJ were the happy recipients of the toys.

If you would like to donate plastic toys to the Second Chance Toys of PA effort, please call 215-990-8615 or email craigoscott@aol.com.

Cara (age 15) and Kyle Scott (age 17), co-founders of Second Chance Toys of PA.

Kyle and Cara Scott with happy Head Start children and lots of “Second Chance Toys” in  Warminster, PA.

Smiling kids and caregivers at the pediatric day health center at the Millhouse in Trenton, NJ enjoy new playground equipment from Second Chance Toys of PA.

In an effort to keep extruded plastic out of our landfills, Trailside Nature and Science Center of Union County, NJ started collecting plastic toys from visitors to the Center on Earth Day and for a couple of weeks thereafter. They donated the toys to the Union County Department of Human Services, Social Services Division, which serves 3,000 families in the area. Karen Inzillo, assistant director of Trailside was excited to work with Second Chance Toys on this program and hopes to do a similar collection in November, just before the holidays.

In celebration of Earth Day, Second Chance Toys of  NYC held its first toy drive in a 45 story high rise on the Upper East Side.  “They say, charity begins at home, so I decided to reach out to my neighbors and ask for their help” according to Jocelyn Goldberg, founder of the NYC chapter. The 350-unit building houses more than 100 families with children of all ages.  We went door-to-door and collected over 85 plastic toys, many of which were in perfect condition and destined for the scrap heap. “Why not give them a second chance with children who could really use them.’’  Toys are being donated to Homes for the Homeless in the South Bronx. HFH shelters over 630 homeless families with more than 1,200 children each day at five separate sites across New York City.  They provide education, shelter, and training to assist parents and children on their way to long-term stability.  For more information on Second Chance Toys or to donate your gently used plastic toys you can reach Jocelyn by emailing her at JocelynSCT@nyc.rr.com

For Earth Day, Evergreen School PTA in Scotch Plains coordinated a toy collection with Second Chance Toys and donated 325 toys to the Union County Department of Social Services.

Pictured are Second Chance Toys founder, Sasha Lipton, and the fourth graders that helped tag the toys with messages from the students.

Accepting a Certificate of Appreciation from Sasha Lipton are (l to r) Lisa Zimmerman, PTA President, Colleen Haubert, Principal Evergreen School and Lisa O’Brien of the PTA.

Receiving the toys collected by the Paramus community program including four elementary schools and the New Jersey Children's Museum are Head Start programs in Bergenfield and Hackensack, both part of the Bergen County Community Action Partnership.

Maribel Tapia, administrative assistant at the Head Start Program of Bergenfield, was happy to receive nearly 200 Second Chance Toys for the facility. Joining her is Drew Trautman, Franchise Partner, New Jersey North East for 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, who generously donated transportation services for the Paramus toy drive.

Happily receiving a delivery of nearly 200 Second Chance Toys for the Hackensack Head Start facility is Alina Moyano, family advocate at the center.