New Hope-Solebury Key Club Tackles Toy Drive

Collecting items for Second Chance Toys was a first endeavour for the New Hope-Solebury High School Key Club and they were thrilled with the experience. Every Friday after school from October through early December, a group of members would trek over to our elementary school to sort and clean toys and books which had been dropped off each week. The Key Club members also worked hard to create posters and get the word out about the fund drive to the district and the local community. This collection drive happened to coincide with Key Club’s annual Adopt-a-Child-for-the-Holidays program in which members of the school district and the community fulfill holiday wish lists of various local children and seniors in need. Understandably, the members were a bit nervous that they might not have enough helpers and enough donations to make a real difference to the Second Chance Toys organization. However, they recognized the importance of this initiative and worked to collect over 350 items. “It’s a good feeling to supply many happy children with toys that may have otherwise ended up in trash fills,” remarked one member.

Many thanks to Mary Schwander and Emilia Lengyl, advisers for Key Club, responsible for coordinating the volunteers and acting as the liaisons between the schools. And a special thanks to Laurie Palau of Simply B Organized, for putting this effort together by bringing the idea to New Hope-Solebury Schools and overseeing the collection.