The World’s Easiest Toy Drive

In Trumbull, CT we have been collecting via the Second Chance Toys model for many years.  Early on we posted flyers, put adds in the paper, had local politicians show up for press shots, but as we spoke to people dropping toys off, the response as to how did you hear about us was almost uniform…Facebook. 

In Trumbull, we have the Moms Facebook page, the Dads page, the school pages, the Republican-tilt page, the Democrat-tilt page. If we put our drive announcement on those pages, we reach everyone in town who is paying attention.  Ten minutes of marketing, maybe two or three times before kick-off and we are guaranteed 500+ used toys year in, year out.  Apart from the December weather during the holiday collections (surprise…people still drop off when it's snowing), the part to plan for is the back end. Second Chance Toys arranges wherever possible for the organizations to pick up the toys. Occasionally, that is not always possible. Befriend someone with a truck! Apart from that, if you have a location to store the toys, you are all set.  If there is an issue with your donation, our friends at Second Chance Toys are whizzes at rectifying any the situation.

This is a great project for high schoolers or a service organization.  Keep score and in a short time you will be able to say thousands of toys went to as many children in need for a second chance, instead of to a landfill.