About Toy Drives

Toy drives are good ways to bring your community together and support those less fortunate. They provide children with educational or recreational toys, donations and gifts to enhance their lives and can be organized by and benefit many different types of individuals and companies. Toy drives help bring joy, happiness and optimism to a child's life, especially during the holiday season.

History

Toy drives have been around for decades, and usually occur during the Christmas holiday season. They started originally in smaller towns to help spread Christmas cheer throughout the community and make sure all children had an equal amount of toys. Over the years, it became something done all year round as well. In 2001, Secret Santa, an organization who promotes toy drives, was created. The company has grown in support and size considerably, with more companies and organizations being added to the lists of Secret Santa clients through toy drives and runs, angel trees, coat and mitten drives, holiday parades, bake sales and food banks. Numerous other organizations run toy drives yearly, from your local firehouse or Marine Corps, to the Salvation Army, to Boy Scouts and religious organizations. Toy drives provide a great amount of toys, gifts and donations each year, all around the world for children of all ages.

Function

Toy drives often benefit organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs, homeless shelters, the Salvation Army, children's hospitals, Toys for Tots, Goodwill, Christmas Angels and many other helpful organizations that benefit children who are less fortunate. Popular toys collected include stuffed animals, educational learning toys, plush toys, farm toys, electronic toys and dolls. After volunteers collect the supply of toys, donations and gifts from the drop-off points, they are all brought to a warehouse or certain location to be looked through and sorted. Once the toys are sorted in groups depending on age, gender, or size, they may be cleaned and gift wrapped. They are then distributed to the organizations or groups that were originally signed up to benefit from the toy drive.

Benefits

Toy drives can be very large, where thousands of toys are collected, or small, where just a few neighborhoods pitch in. Either way, they all benefit society. They help spread the distribution of wealth and material goods, promote new toys and charity organizations and create an awareness about poverty and those less fortunate. Donations are tax deductible (with a receipt from the organization).

Process

A toy drive can be organized by a committee, organization, business or individual. Advertise what you are doing and what for, and specify what age, gender or types of toys are acceptable. Make sure they are cleaned and disinfected. The toys are collected and separated into gender and age by groups of volunteers.

Time Frame

Toy drives can last for varied amounts of time. On average, they run at least a month and a half, but it depends on the event size and who is in charge of it. There needs to be a substantial amount of time in order to collect the toys that are needed. There also needs to be enough time for marketing purposes, which usually start at least a half month to a full month before the toy drive. After the toys are collected, it is up to the organization to deliver the toys to the children.

Resources

• The US Marine Corps. Toys for Tots program