Holiday Toy Swap Event

December 18, 2012

Looking for a great holiday reuse event?

Try a "toy exchange."

I had the privilege of participating in a recent toy exchange event sponsored by the Northampton Department of Public Works ReUse Committee. This was the second annual Toy Exchange for this community of 28,540, located in Western Massachusetts.

According the DPW's Waste Management Supervisor, Karen Bouquillon, "Participants reaped all of the benefits of reuse—like saving money, natural resources, and energy, while providing free toys for local families. As an added bonus, it was a great opportunity to de-clutter before the holidays!"

The event was extremely well organized. Volunteers from the City's Reuse Committee received donations of used toys and sporting equipment on Friday, December 7 from 5pm-8pm and Saturday, December 8 from 8am-9am. All donations were examined and cleaned up, if necessary.

Only good quality, gently used toys and sporting equipment (e.g. toy cars and trucks, stuffed animals, building toys, dolls and doll houses/furniture/clothes, kid's bikes and riding toys, instruments and noisemakers, books, games, puzzles, model kits, outdoor toys, sports equipment, arts and crafts kits, baby toys, music/movies/computer games) were accepted. Items that were not taken included anything that was dirty, broken, ragged or missing pieces, and baby gear such as cribs, car seats, strollers and play-yards.

How it worked

The toy swap was held in the high school cafeteria. Volunteers separated out the donations into categories, such as games, electronic toys, building toys, outdoor toys, arts and crafts kits, etc. Each category was nicely displayed on cafeteria tables or on tablecloths spread on the floor. Small sandwich boards sat on top of the tables to denote the toy category. Other signage explained rules and noted that the toy exchange was a "zero waste" event.

Auction

As an incentive to encourage toy donations, toy donors received the first opportunity to "shop" from 9 am-8 am on Saturday morning. Donors were lined up outside of the doors before the event opened and the room was packed shortly after the doors opened. Additionally, toy donors received raffle tickets that allowed them to be entered into an auction for several donated items of high value. From 10-noon the event was open for anyone to shop.

New, unwrapped toys delivered were donated to the "Toys for Tots" program, amounting to enough toys by the end of the event to fill four large boxes. A Salvation Army truck arrived just before the event ended to haul away any toys that remained at the end of the morning. Fifteen large boxes and 2 large bags of stuffed animals were donated to the Salvation Army.

Happy shoppers

Several hundred people participated in the event. All participants were asked to take a short survey to gauge how they felt about the toy exchange and what they felt was the estimated value of the items they picked up. Based upon survey responses the estimated value of toys participants took home was worth more than $10,000, averaging about $77 worth of toys per participant.

Participant comments were very positive and several very appreciative that the City sponsored the event. While children were discouraged from attending in order for the event to run in a more orderly fashion, both adults and the few children in attendance were friendly and courteous.

Other communities are also sponsoring similar gift exchanges

The Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook, Illinois held its first toy swap in early December. Participants donating toys received a voucher for every toy they donated that could be redeemed for another.

The Bainbridge Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Bainbridge Island in Washington State held a "Gift Giving Exchange." This annual event is held on the weekend before Thanksgiving to encourage residents to "re-gift toys" instead of discarding them. As with the Northampton event, tables are dedicated to toy categories, including stuffed animals, model cars, dollhouses, etc. Some brought items that would interest adults, as well.

At this event, however, donors are presented with "Giving Bucks" for each item they donate. These "Giving Bucks" could then be redeemed for other items at the Exchange.

On-line toy exchanges are also growing in popularity, such as the New York Toy Exchange, Inc., www.jumbleworld.com, www.toystotrade.com.

By Athena Lee Bradley

Special appreciation to Karen Bouquillon, Northampton's Waste Management Supervisor and members of the Northampton ReUse Committee for their hard work and their input into this article.