On Monday, six middle-school students in Salem, Mass., went on a $2,500 “shopping spree” for safe toys ”“ no lead paint, no toxic magnets. The toys were destined for Toys for Tots, courtesy of SourceOne Inc., an energy-management firm in Boston.
This past Thursday, Cincinnati Toys for Tots received 8,000 plush toys (no hard plastic and no intoxicating residues) from Ty’s Toy Box, an online retailer in northern Kentucky.
In Chicago, Children’s Memorial Hospital is getting 50 CDs and 50 comic books from Denise Dorman, a publicist and mother of a 3-year-old, who worries about spreading lead paint.
This has not been the merriest of holidays for local toy drives. High-profile toy recalls and continuing concerns about the safety of products imported from China have caused donors to pull back on contributions and charities to begin screening donations. But in some places, holiday givers are coming up with creative alternatives ”“ from 24-hour Internet money drives to “make-it-yourself” toys ”“ to help children in need.
“Our aisles are bursting this this year with customers who want to help kids make toys of their own,” says Lori Gatley, of Michaels Craft Store in Pasadena Calif. She says parents are stocking up on paper, glue, and cardboard components rather than worry about safety with some manufactured toy they’ve purchased. “Most of the projects are made of materials like foam which are safe,” she says.