Looking for a Good Place to Donate Old Toys

There is a battered women's shelter in Belleville that wouldlove your donations. They would also like any cell phones you are no longer using or clothes of yours. These women leave desperate situations with their children and all anyone has is the clothes they are wearing when they go. Please consider the women's shelter.

Also, there are LOTS of other places to donate in Belleville. There is a Salvation Army on 159 a Goodwill on Carlyle Avenue and The Shelter Shop and Senior Center.

If you want to deduct your donations on next years taxes make sure to take pictures and get an itemized receipt. All of the places mentioned above would qualify for a donation deduction.

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If you have stuffed animals that are like-new, contact your local fire department or ambulance service. They keep small stuffed animals to give kids in an emergency situation. The office I work at collects stuffed animals to donate to first responders this time each year.

Also, you can call social services for information about women's shelters. Where there are women in need, there are almost always children in need. These shelters are often poorly funded and those kids could really use a lift.

The Ronald McDonald House might also be a great place to donate toys. Out-of-town families stay there while they have a family member in the hospital.

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In Springfield Mo we the Junior League has opened a crisis care facility for children from birth-12 yrs. This is for when there is a situation and no other care is available, i.e. surgery for parent. You might also consider a women's shelter. When most women leave a bad situation they leave with the clothes on their back and no where to go. Most shelters don't have the means to provide alot for them other than a safe place to be. They can always use paper products, femine supplies, socks, undies,.....

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L.,
Have you tried Ronald Mcdonald house? Or you could give
it to Toys for Tots, they go overseas.
On another note, it is interesting to see where you are
from. My mother was born there.
Take care and may your son learn compassion through
giving.

I give a lot of games, movies, toys to churches. Call some and see if they could use them. Also they might be able to tell you of a family in need. Also Libary will take at least movies. I sometimes keep a box of stuff to give to families that have had a fire. There are so many places that could use what you have. Watch the paper, call some churches.

Hi L.,

I just heard on our local news that a new law that just took effect now bands certain toys, books, even clothes to be donated if they are used. Please check with your local donation site for more information.

Very sad the government did this. All those items donated are being thrown away because of their ignorance. They made the law because of the lead scare. I hope they make a change soon.

Best Wishes,

J. H.

Call your local hospital and see if the childrens ward needs any...find out if there is a childrens cancer ward...children in those situations can use something to take thier minds off of chemo therapy...might have more of an impact if he gets to see some of the children who benefit from his generosity rather than just the knowledge that they went to someone else.
Just a suggestion = )
GL
B.

I live in New Baden IL and have gone to Once Upon a Child (by Steak and Shake in Fairview Heights). They will buy your old toys and clothes. They don't pay much, but I would think he'd enjoy any amount of money!! Or, you can go to Goodwill (close to that too) and have him take in the bags instead of just dropping them off. Other than that, no ideas!!

You could donate them to a foster care agency. A lot of these kids don't get many toys or new clothes, especially when they come into care, most of them have nothing and a new toy or some nice clothes are always appreciated. There is one in O'fallon, called Illinois Mentor ###-###-####, or you could probably contact DCFS. Another option is CHASI, I think thats in Granite City. Or any church rummage sale would be more than happy to take them too I bet.

Try a crisis pregnancy center like Birthright. I volunteered at Hand N Hand in Barnhart, MO & they always needed donations like that for Christmas. The parents could "shop" for Christmas presents for their children. It was always a blessing to see how appreciative they were.

Don Bosco Children's Center..The # should be in the phone book. I donate several times a year. When you call they can tell you all the great stuff they do. And they'll come pick stuff up too!

Good Morning L., What a wonderful thing you are wanting to do with your child. Unfortunately as of Yesterday Feb 10, Good Will, Salvation Army can no longer take these items for donation resale. I watched a News item last night of a resale shop having to throw almost new clothing, books, toys in a dumpster. If the sell them they face large fines!!

Our Local Online newspaper had this article this morning.
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/695191.html

My thoughts last night when I saw all of those wonderful Children's Cloths, BOOKS being thrown out was, Then Give them Away. People are in deep need with the economy right now. Such a horrible, horrible waste. Can't even hold a garage sale to sell these items, unless the wording is changed Drastically in this bill

God Bless your good example and willing heart

K. Nana of 5
PS I am contacting our congressmen and senators about this new Law!!

Have you ever thought to call a local human service center or Social service place to see if they have any needed families in the area. Or maybe a local school or church? You can always put them in a tub until christmas and call local schools or churches that accept donations. Some will probably even do it year round. I am from Red Bud and I know that the human service center here does toy & coat drives for the local families along with a food pantry. Hope you find someplace worthwhile for your son.

There is a lady and her daughter in Smithton, IL who run "The Lord's Helper". She is always excited about getting food, clothes, toys, etc. She makes baskets for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas for families in the surrounding areas that are in need. She does it strictly from the heart and accepts all donations.
Her house in on main street across from the Post Office. It is a white house with red and black trim and a matching shed.

I would suggest your church or maybe a "Safe Home"(that's what we call them here, places for moms/kids to go to when needing to leave a bad situation). I've donated a lot of my boys books to our local pre-school. Maybe even the library? Our library would take books and movies. Good luck with your donations. What a kind gesture and good example you are setting!

I think Nurses for Newborns takes toys for older children, too, and they have an awesome organization! You can go in and even volunteer to organize the supplies!
There is also a day care that has many less fortunate children who attend. It is near SLU and in an old church called Christ in the City. There is also a coffee shop called CRAVE.

I have thought about doing this myself and good for you for wanting to do it. A friend of mine at work told me about a women's shelter in Fairview Heights, I am not sure on where it is located and I cannot get a hold of her right now, but she told me that she used to donate her children's things to this shelter. The shelter keeps the things there for the numerous families that come through there so that the children will have something when they arrive. Just a thought. I have also started having my kids put money, themselves, into the buckets during fund raisers like the Tree of Lights campaign or local firefighters drives, which they get a kick out of. I figured that it's never to early to teach charity, my daughter just turned 3 and my son is 18 months. Good luck and I hope this helps.

Well there are always places looking for donations and I'm sure any daycare, Salvation Army, or Headstart program would certainly welcome them but I usually prefer to have my kids more involved. I like to approach the pastors of Churchs to see if they have any parishiners in need (i.e. unemployed, house fire, etc.)...with Easter coming up it would certainly be a nice thing for the EB to leave something to play with instead of candy (at least that's what he does at our house). You could also call the local United Way or American Red Cross and see if they have any suggestions on places that are most in need at this time, they are certainly the most 'in the know.'

If you would like to actually make some money off of them I'd take pictures of them and list them on Ebay...that sort of stuff sells really well, especially if it's in good condition. And if I recall you said you were having problems moving around at work with your swelling in a question last week...this would give you some extra income with not much effort needed.