Nationwide toy recalls not impacting Yuma-area donations

Toy recalls owing mostly to excessive lead paint have had no apparent impact on Yuma toy donation drives, according to community service organization officials.

Capt. Jonathan Harvey of the Salvation Army said that despite not collecting toys at the same rate as last year, he has had no indication it is because of recent toy recalls, many of them manufactured in China. Harvey said he not has yet "pulled" any toys.

"Our national office provided us with good information about the recall list and required us to make sure not to distribute any items on the list," Harvey said. "We've provided a list with pictures of recalled items to our volunteers and make certain that no toys that might be tainted get through."

The Salvation Army is confident that stores "have done due diligence to ensure they are not selling products on the recall list, and we're providing a second line of defense," Harvey said.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. Leading the drive for MCAS Yuma is Sgt. Johnny McDaniel. McDaniel said that despite donations being a little bit behind last year, he didn't think the toy recall had any impact on the drive.

"The stores in Yuma have done a really good job screening all their toys," McDaniel said. "We do another screening when it comes in and another before it leaves. Luckily, we didn't find any tainted toys.

"It's either feast or famine," McDaniel said. "It always seems like that, then it comes in one big rush."

There have only been a few donors who even inquired about whether the toy recall was affecting Toys for Tots, he said. Overall, response has been nothing but positive, and a lot of organizations have already donated toys.

"A lot of RV parks have Christmas parties and invite us out," he said. "We get 250 toys at an RV park. Our winter visitors really get on board and support us."

Toys for Tots has given out 9,000 toys so far and estimates it will hand out another 9,000 by next week. Once toys arrive at their warehouse they are checked against a recall list supplied by a consumer protection Web site.

Toys for Tots is asking donors to bring new, unwrapped toys to their donation box at the Southgate Mall in the former Lions Den building. Toys are accepted from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Also, Keny's Barbershop, just across from Toys for Tots, has a donation box open until 9 p.m. Additional donation boxes are at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Applebee's, Big O Tires and Ed Whitehead's Tires.

Decorating Christmas trees throughout Yuma are angel-shaped tags with names of needy children for whom passers-by may buy a gift. Those who buy a toy for the child listed on the tag are asked to drop it off at any Yuma Fire Department station.

As of Thursday the toys that had been turned in were only 30 percent of the more than 3,500 tags picked, according to Harvey. "Normally we have more toys at this point. We still have about 2,000 angel tags taken from trees, so we're asking those people to please get the toys as quickly as they can and drop them off. If folks don't have time to pick an angel tag off a tree, we ask they just drop off a toy at any (city) fire station."

According to the Web site online.barrons.com, Mattel, one of the largest toy retailers, recalled more than 20 million products made in China that carried lead-paint risks or had possibly harmful magnetic parts. There were four separate announcements made during the summer and fall of 2007.