I have a challenge I'd like to extend to each and every person on this board. The other night, I walked past a Toys for Tots barrel, and noticed that 99% of the toys in that barrel were of the $2 or less variety (you know, cheap plastic squirt guns, bag of marbles, etc). That got me really depressed. I went to the toy section and bought 3 deluxe movie transformers and donated one to Toys for Tots and the other two went to a local battered women & children shelter. My challenge is this: the next time you go to the store to look for that"uber must-have to finish my collection" toy, pick up a toy that isn't the usual donated item. Grab a Robot Heroes or Cyberslammer, or something else. I'm not suggesting you buy the entire stock of 20th Anniv Primes, but think about back when you were a kid, and you opened that present that turned out to be your first transformer, back in 1985. Give that feeling to a new generation. Remember, these charities are always stretched thin, and with the recent homes forclosure disaster, there will be even more people that will need some help bringing smiles to faces. Hopefully a mod will bestow a sticky to this, at least thru xmas. I bet we could do an awesome job. Happy holidays!
I am up for the challenge!! i've been thinking about doing this anyway, but it's time to get off my butt and do it!
I'm hoping to pick up a Primus and throw him in to one of the bins along with a bunch of movie toys. Although I normally drop them off at the state police barracks, I usually try and give a bunch of ones of each size and class away each year.
That's a great idea! Deluxe '08 Bees have been popping up more and more around here, and I'll try to get a couple in a Toys for Tots bin. ^_^
Actually, I am planning on moving in the next year to a much smaller space, so every unopened toy in my collection is going to Toys for Tots this year. Of course, I don't have any unopened TFs because that is madness , but there's quite a bit of action figures and stuff.
I felt bad too 'cause every bin I see is just about empty, so I went and bought a lego set and now I'm looking around my place to find some unopened stuff to give.
I accept! The company I work for sponsors two families in need every holiday. We have a tree in our lobby with the names of all the family member and what they want for Christmas. I picked out a 10 year old and a 14 year old kid from each family because they both wanted Transformers. I'm not good at buying clothes for kids so I skipped to the other stuff they wanted, and I had to laugh because each kid can ask for three things in the "Toy/Game" category, and both said transformers for each one. So I hit Target this week and got them each two movie deluxes's, and just to mix it up I gave one a sealed RID Prime and the other a sealed RID Scourge from my own MISB collection. Will I miss those figures? Sure. Is it more important that these kids have them? Hell yes. I'd much rather have those toys open and played with than sitting in one of my closets gathering dust. If just one of those toys lasts them to adulthood and sparks an interest that lasts a lifetime like it has for me, then all will be served. The thing that choked me up is that when our HR person asked one of the fathers what he wanted, his only response was "a job".
I believe most State Police Barracks are Toys for Tots drop of places. Only good reason to go to the State Police Barracks that I can think of.
most KB Toys, Walmarts, Best Buys, Toys R Us, and Target stores all do collections. You can also usually drop off items at firestations, police stations, needy (homeless, battered women & children, etc) shelters, and some courthouses. There are lots of places to donate. I'm glad there is a huge positive response here!
i have 6 deluxe 09 concept camaros and 3 battle damaged in the evolution of a hero package so all together that makes 9 ....so i donated one of them
I made my donation to our local charity toy donation "Santas Annonymous" I dropped in an 08 bumblebee, dropkick and a real gear meantime
We have such a small percentage of battered/mistreated women and children here (but then again, our entire population is less than the number of people living in New York City), so we only have a small number of shelters, and none of those are for children. They usually end up with relatives, foster parents, or halfway houses when the authorities have picked them up. So basically, I don't have anywhere to donate toys. Instead, I make a lot more Christmas food than we'll need, and donate it to the largest homeless shelter in the area. This will be my third year in a row doing this. It's not a big effort, but it brings a lot of joy to the people who are worse off than myself. If everyone in the world performed a charity of their own choosing, one or two times every year, the world would be a much better place. Blessings to all you who are helping out!
would love to be involved with this, does anyone know if Toys for Tots operates in the UK as well ? or if theres an alternative that works in a similar way ?
I'm definitely going to donate this year. I need to wait until my payday next Friday though since my funds are really tight right now. They'll still be tight after payday but TFT is worth it. I wanted to buy a Supreme Cybertron Starscream in '05 to put in the bin, but of course the day I went to do it no where had any more
Make sure you cover 'em up good, so the scalper-types don't see 'em in there. Seriously, though, I've already sent a FAB and a Cyber-slammer to the Toys for Tots bin at my local TRU, and plan to be doing it again sooner or later. (better than some previous years when I see the bin and keep going "Oh yeah, I need to get something in there the next time I come in.", and then it's taken out before I actually do.