Second Chance Toys

Sayville Middle School Student's Work Helps Both Coming and Going

 
 
Sayville.com 4/27/11 - Last January, when 6th Grader Luke Kleppan’s mother, Rosann, told him about a Newsday article she’d read entitled “Toys Get Another Turn to Thrill Kids”, Luke’s reaction was, “I want to do that!”

The January 18th article by Jennifer Barrios talked about “Second Chance Toys”, a New Jersey-based nonprofit organization that keeps plastic toys out of landfills and distributes them to needy children. “I think this is really good because it’s a win-win situation. It takes toys out of landfills and puts them into children’s hands,” Luke said.

Luke’s parish, The Church of the Good Shepherd in Holbrook, generously allowed him to hold the toy drive there. He created a flyer to pass among the church members asking for clean plastic toys with no missing parts, new batteries sizes AA to D and disinfecting wipes. The congregation responded with over two hundred toys, packages of batteries and cartons of wipes which were stored in the church basement. That’s where I met the crew consisting of family and friends. “We’re cleaning, assorting and making sure they all work. We’re putting fresh batteries in (the toys) to make sure they’re ready to go when the child gets them. We also check the consumer protection recall list to be sure they are safe,” Rosann told me.

“We called organizations to find who needed the toys. Matthew, the recreation and education director of The HELP Suffolk in Bellport – a homeless shelter, was happy to get the toys. He said there were about 175 kids there,” Rosann explained.

“We spent about 50 hours planning, collecting, cleaning and organizing,” Luke said.

The Kleppan’s Auntie Ann was there to help. “I’m very proud of Luke for doing this and I’m happy to lend a helping hand.”

Friend and fellow church-goer, Maria Pavek, was “glad to be of help (and to give many toys!) I believe this inspires others and my son, Cortland, to do similar things.”

Rosann told me that “right now we have about 250 toys. Some of them are brand new, still in the original wrapping.”

According to the Sayville Middle School, students are encouraged to do a minimum of seven hours community service a year. Those who surpass 50 hours are presented with a presidential recognition certificate of community service. I think Luke Kleppan, with the help of his crew, has reached that lofty goal and has made us all proud!

Rebekah Sills Lamm Joins Second Chance Toys as Development Director (@secondchancetoy)

 
We are absolutely trilled to have Rebekah Sills Lamm join the Second Chance Toys team to help us focus on areas of growth and development. Rebekah has worked in the non-profit world since completing graduate school in 2007, specifically in education. She has served as a community trainer, youth advocate, and community liaison, which makes Second Chance Toy (SCT) a perfect fit for her passions and her background. Rebekah loves the dual giving aspect of SCT allowing people to help the environment and children simultaneously. She looks forward to helping SCT grow into a national organization and reach its amazing potential.

We're really excited to have you as part of our SCT team Rebekah!!

PLEASE HELP Children and the Environment. (@secondchancetoy)

 
Do you KNOW ANYONE that would like to put their smarts to use by getting involved with us as a volunteer. Second Chance Toys is a 501c3 charitable organization that recycles gently used plastic toys by donating them to children in need. We are looking for volunteers who could help out with any of the following areas of need:

• Identify companies that could serve as national drop off locations
• Research foundations that have grant money we could apply for
• Organize SCT information on Excel spreadsheets
• Make calls to organizations during toy drives
• Research Mommy Bloggers and Moms’ Clubs
• Help us connect with Girl or Boy Scouts of America regional or national headquarters.

Thanks in advance for passing this along to anyone who might be interested in getting involved and working with an organization that has children and the environment as their mission. They should please get in touch with Bronna at blipton@secondchancetoys.org to set up a time to discuss.

Thanks to 1-800-Got-Junk?, Over 10,000 Kids Received Second Chance Toys In Time for the Holidays

 
Thanks for all you do. You guys Rock!!

Still Time to Make a 2010 Tax-Deductible Contribution to Second Chance Toys!!

Thanks to committed partners like you, Second Chance Toys makes a real difference in the lives of disadvantaged children and our environment. But there's still so much work to be done.

 

Now, before 2010 ends, won't you please make a special year-end gift to Second Chance Toys?

 

Your gift supports all the work we do which leads to days of happiness among deserving children and great benefits to our environment – and you will also receive a valuable tax-deduction for 2010.

 

So please, make your gift to Second Chance Toys now. And if your year-end donation is already on its way... you have our deepest thanks!

Giving your barely used toys a new lease on life

 

Check out what Long Island Examiner has to say.

Long Island Family Examiner Love Second Chance Toys

 
You can find the article at:

http://www.examiner.com/family-in-long-island/what-to-do-with-your-kids-unwanted-toys

Second Chance Toys Begins to Post Holiday 2010 Collection Sites

 
Over 85 drop-off locations are presently available throughout New York and New Jersey. More locations will continue to be added during November.

Second Chance Toys Expands to Long Island

 
Hi, my name is Carey Campbell and I’m the mother of three young children, two boys and a girl.  They are wonderful! But they seem to come with far too many accessories. I had my three in as many years, so it was very easy to reuse and recycle, but when my little one started to outgrow things, I was in a quandary. Most of the toys she had were plastic and still had a lot of life in them, but we had the youngest children of anyone we knew, so I had a hard time finding them new homes. When my friend suggested I just throw them out because it was easier, I knew I had to do something. That statement officially started my mission. I searched the internet (because that’s what you do when you need an answer immediately) and Second Chance Toys came up. I was sold. 

Now, I am the go to mom for recycling.  I am very active in my children’s schools and I make it a point to tell their teachers the mission of Second Chance Toys.  Last Earth Week was my first time organizing the donations, and it was amazing.  We collected over 400 toys (I quit counting after that) and the best part was that I had so many people thanking me because they had nowhere to give their toys to. People want to help, but need to know how, or where to give.  Second Chance Toys is an amazing outlet for everyone.  I made a lot of friends and have somehow even convinced my 6, 4 ½ and 3 year old that giving toys to OTHER people can feel really good.

Plainview Families LOVE Second Chance Toys!