City Newspaper Archives - 12/2007
GIVING: Pirate Toy Fund
Simple gifts
Published by Eric Rezsnyak on Dec 19, 2007
If your kids are anything like my nephew and nieces, they receive way too many gifts at Christmastime. (Not that you're not worth it, you adorable little urchins.) Their piles under the tree last year were embarrassingly large, leading my brothers and I to feel at least a few pangs of guilt at our rampant consumerism. We love those kids, but we knew they would never, ever play with all of those toys.
So I'm going to try a new tradition this year: each kid gets to pick one gift under the tree to give away to charity. We'll see how well this actually works, but the idea is sound. Christmas is supposed to be the season of giving, and there are lots of kids out there who could use a new toy or two.
That's the idea behind the Pirate Toy Fund, a local charity that delivers toys to 70 local programs that work with sick or underprivileged children. Founded by Gary the Happy Pirate (a.k.a. Gary Smith), last year the Toy Fund gave away 20,000 toys; by December of this year it had already given away 5,000 more than that.
Smith says that the Pirate Toy Fund is especially interested in donations of infant toys, sporting goods like footballs or soccer balls, and toys for teens, including CD players, handheld games, and Legos. It should be noted that the Toy Fund is looking for new, unwrapped toys rather than gently used ones.
Right now you can find Pirate Toy Fund cash donation canisters all over the greater Rochester area, and toy collecting bins at multiple locations (the one at Strong - National Museum of Play is the only one available year-round). For more information on the Pirate Toy Fund visit piratetoyfund.org.
Article Photos
The Pirate Toy Fund accepts donations year-round, but nowís a good time to make difference.
