Toys for the Holidays

Hi all, This is my first Christmas with foster children and I somehow assumed we would be inundated with donated toys considering how many toy drives I have participated in and donated to over the years. DYFS has told me they will buy the children each ONE toy....they didn't give me a price-range so I picked toys that were in the moderate range. I have no idea when they will receive them (will they be given to me in advance so I can wrap them and put them under the tree on Christmas morning or will they get them at the annual holiday party for foster families or be handed them at a visit?) I did receive one phone call from what I assume is the PTA at one of my boys' schools and they will also provide a toy (I think) in Dec. The woman was very nice but left me completely confused as she asked for their winter coat sizes (said they do coats too) and then told me they'd receive the coats sometime in December. Ummm....I had to go buy them both coats weeks ago when it turned cold. December? I contacted the Marine Corps Toys for Tots today on my own so hopefully they will get a toy from there. What does everyone else do? Please don't flame me - I'm not being greedy and I don't believe kids need dozens of toys for Christmas but I'm trying to save up to take the boys skiing/snowboarding (they have never been) and I'd like to take them on vacation in April when school is out. I just keep thinking of the years and years I participated in toy drives and went crazy buying stuff for "needy" kids. Money is much tighter since I started feeding two boys who are also enrolled in swimming lessons, basketball lessons and indoor soccer. This is my first Christmas with kids of my own and I'm somewhat overwhelmed at the thought of what it will cost for toys alone. I have always donated a LOT of toys to toy drives during the holidays and am just trying to figure out who those toys go to.... Thanks in advance for any resources or help you can provide.

You might want to check -- we get a small ($50-100) extra bit of money in December and around our kids' birthdays for gifts. The money comes with our foster care $$ for that month.

My Fd's caseworker brought a present for her first Christmas . We just payed for the rest out of her monthly funds. At 9 and 4 skiing/ snowboarding may be a little to much for them, perhaps tubing, plus its alot cheaper.

My son's CW gave him several toys his first Christmas, when he was still a foster child. The giving tree at my church was filled with gift wishes from FAFS. Maybe they could help you out (or maybe they are the ones who give the CW the gifts to give to their clients?). Good luck.

I never got any xmas gifts for my kids. I just assumed that was what the stipend was for and used that money. I think we did get a ACME shopping card one xmas for dinner though.

When DD was my FD, her LW showed up with a garbage bag (not the best message, but it was lost on J) full of presents. We have a local business who donates the money each year

Thanks for the replies. Of course I will be buying them toys from the stipend (or more accurately I should say I will be buying them toys myself as the stipend doesn't even come close to covering what I spend on them every month). That's no one's fault but my own - I choose how to spend the money and the boys are enrolled in sports and lessons and we already have tickets to ride the Polar Express train and go to Radio City Music Hall in Dec. I also want to get them to either the Camden Aquarium or the NY Aquarium during my vacation time after Christmas. As I said, I'm not looking for handouts - I'm just trying to figure out WHO gets all these toys. There is a box downstairs in my office building for a toy drive, there are scouts collecting toys in my town, there are a ton of organizations sending me requests for their toy drive and after participating in so many for so many years, I just want to know "who gets the toys?" It's obviously not foster kids (from the responses above) which is good to know.....that was really my question. Thanks again and enjoy the holiday season everyone!

try schools, churches; fire and police departments. I've always bought my kids; some years were leaner than others.

Some charities give to children whose parents are in prison, some to children whose parents are overseas with the military some to children who live in homeless shelters or government housing, others give to families living below the poverty line. One I know of gives to kids in group home situations. Others give to kids in the hospital. I always ask before I give.

I am in charge of getting donations for our FAFS holiday party, and I am going to tell you I had a much easier time last year then this one. I have almost no toy donations at all. I am still working hard on getting them by begging everyone I know. I must have sent out 200 request to companies and I received 3 gifts.

You should contact the organization: Onesimplewish.org too, they are very helpful. Maybe a local church, or your sheriffs department as well!

OneSimpleWish is great! We were able to do something special (and pricy) with our foster kids on our vacation this summer that we wouldn't otherwise have been able to do. I wouldn't rely on them for holiday gifts, though - Sometimes wishes aren't granted right away. Just to answer your question in the past we have gotten gifts through: -Birth mom's church, which I guess gave her gifts to give to them since she can't afford to give them much from her own money. - Birth mom's mentoring program that she's in -The supervised visitation program (our kids' visits are at an outside agency, not DYFS) which gave a lot of gifts to the kids. -DYFS themselves buys gifts for each kid. We were asked to provide a list. If I remember last year the kids each got a few outfits and a few toys (inexpensive stuff from Walmart), I wouldn't be surprised if it were more limited this year. I heard about the FAFS parties having gifts, but we didn't go. You can request toys through Toys 4 Tots' website, I've heard. There are also "adopt a family" programs for families whose kids have special needs and such.

Hello! I found this toy on eBay and I'd love to find it for sale through another channel, but the original listing didn't specify or even hint at a manufacturer or toyline, so I doubt the original seller knew, either. :/ And here's the original eBay listing, with additional photos. In case the image doesn't embed properly, it's a green, flocked frog toy with five points of articulation and an unflocked yellow crown and orange toepads. The listing, again, didn't specify a brand or manufacturer, but it does say that it stands 3 inches tall and refers to it as "vintage", but I take that with a grain of salt considering some toys that are less than a decade old are called "retro" on eBay, too