My kids have a ton of stuffed animals that never have been played with and are like brand new. Does anyone know of a place to donate them to. It seems like requests are always for new toys. These are barely used from a smoke free, clean home. We do have a dog but she is not allowed in the bedrooms. Any idea's let me know. Thanks! S.
There is a man who collects used stuffed animals for children of migrant workers in Ruskin. I haven't actually donated anything to him yet (although I really need to!) but here is his contact info: Bob Walker ###-###-#### or ____@____.com.
Hi S. -
I donate my kids' clothes and toys to a place in Tampa called The Spring. It is an organization that helps adults and children who are victims of domestic violence. Their website is www.thespring.org.
- E.
Check with the local police and fire departments. They will often take donations that they give to children that have been in fires, etc.
The Cystic Fybrosis Foundation collects clothes, toys etc thru the post office. You get a notice in the mail saying to leave these kinds of items at your mailbox on a certain date. That's a wonderful cause and very convenient. I'm sure there are more but that came to mind immediately. They do it a few times a year or you could call.
Hello S.,
I like the idea of the police department, but if you have any problems getting them to take them you can always freecycle them. If you haven't heard of freecycle you should really check it out, I've been doing it for about 4 years. You can look it up on freecycle.org, you can also find a brandon valrico freeshare under the yahoo groups, it's a fun way to get rid of unwanted stuff, and find items you'd like to have. But I'd check with the police department first because when our truck got stolen about 8 years ago, the police gave my oldest son, who was a baby then, some stuffed animals to keep him busy while we sat and waited, and he told us about how they give out stuffed animals to little children in tragedies, I thought that was really sweet. Hope this helps, you take care.
Candi ;O)
Take them to the Spring....Lighthouse Ministries.....Salvation Army......Local Day Cares.....Police Station.....Fire Department......toy swaps with other Mom's...just look around there are several places that can use your stuffed toys that you no longer want. Even the local Elementary School will take them.
Call the Cancer Center - they are always looking for stuffed animals.
These are great suggestions and I am also going to look into them. My daughter has SOOOO many stuffed animals; many of them have not even been handled or played with because every time she goes into the hospital, she gets more! The places I have tried to donate to, have informed me that they can not except "used" stuffed animals because they can not sanitize them before giving them out again; it's been frustrating. But I am ging to try the Police Dept and see what they have to say. Good luck to you too.
Just a thought...call the Dept of Children's Services. A foster mom told me when kids get removed from their homes that it's done so quickly they leave everything else behind--clothes, toys. If that's the case, a cozy stuffed animal would be very comforting. There are also Children's Homes in the area. If you call the Kidney Foundation, they will pick up all kinds of items. Thanks for sharing and wanting to bless someone in need.
