Children's Toy Fund, Inc. was founded in 1990
Mission
To provide hope, comfort, fun, and smiles during difficult situations—one kid, one toy, and one community partnership at a time.
Vision
To make the world a more fun and brighter place for all children, families, and communities—no matter what difficult situations they may face.
About CTF
We bring the "bouncy, squishy fun" to kids in need.
The Children's Toy Fund, Inc. (CTF) is a 501(c)3 charitable organization located in Canton, OH that brings the "bouncy, squishy, AWESOME fun" to children facing difficult situations. We fill a much-needed gap by supplying all things fun and comforting to agencies and 501(c)3 organizations across the region to help them bring smiles to children and teens facing chronic illness, terminal illness, or crisis situations.
Governance
We are run by a five-member board of community members and retain corporate counsel out of Columbus, OH.
How It All Began
The organization was founded in 1990 by a group of mothers who had chronically ill children. They witnessed firsthand the sights and sounds of a children’s hospital on a daily basis. They noticed incredible staff members making the best with what they had at the time (Pinkie the Puppet and coloring books) to entertain children throughout the hospital.
These mothers were Cathi Bogavich and Kimberly Samuels. Cathi’s own children were chronically ill, requiring multiple hospital visits and Kimberly’s son, Colin, was diagnosed with pleuropulmonary blastoma at the age of 2.5 (he ultimately would pass away at the age of 5). All of the experiences during that time inspired these women to brighten the days of local hospitalized children. They wanted to make the hospital experience as fun as going to an arcade. The original mission was for all children to enjoy just being kids regardless of what they were facing.
What We Do
We act as a resource for all things fun for a child or teen who needs to smile. We do this through our connections with organizations already dedicated to providing care for them in difficult situations. Our help varies by location because we realize every organization has unique needs. We want to truly help each organization in an individualized way. Some examples of the kind of help we provide are: monthly birthdays gifts, monthly toy drops that are easy to store (we realize storage limitations are a thing), and bulk donations on a yearly basis. Those are just examples, not limitations.
We do our best to make receiving our donation easy. We provide an itemized list of what is included and label the boxes. If receiving organizations have multiple locations, we label accordingly to help staff make sure it gets to the right place.
Organizations We Help
We focus primarily on foster care organizations, hospitals, fire departments / EMS, and Wish Foundations. We sometimes make exceptions on a case-by-case basis for local organizations when they are helping bring smiles to children in times of crisis.
What We Provide
We provide quality, brand name items catered to the environment and situation. For example, what may work at a primarily inpatient hospital does not work as well at a primarily outpatient hospital. Some of the most common items we send out include:
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Comfort Items - Stuffed animals, blankets, etc.
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Fidget/Stress Items - Stress balls, poppers, finger slugs, etc.
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Games - Card games, board games, etc.
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Crafts - Craft kits, sketch pads, coloring books, Model Magic, Play-Doh, etc.
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Toys - Action figures, barbies, vTech, doctor kits, etc.
Our Values
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Authenticity + Making A DifferenceWe are a group of authentic individuals who believe that no kid should feel alone when facing a chronic illness, terminal illness, or crisis situation. We believe that something as small as a toy or stuffed animal can provide hope, security, laughter, and a distraction—not only for a kid, but also for the staff, caregivers, and family.
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Community + CollaborationWe go beyond giving "just another toy" by working with others to make a lasting impact. We value community partnerships because we know we can do more together than we can on our own.
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FamilyFamily, for us, is more than just biological connections. We believe that no one should do life alone—everyone should feel connected, loved, and supported by others. As an organization, we prioritize creating time and space to continually nourish relationships. Not only do we provide our partner organizations with toys and activities to facilitate family time, but we also intentionally create space in our own calendar so that our families can spend time with each other.
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QualityToys provide a way to bring hope and laughter to children in the darkest moments. We do our best to make sure that the items we donate are of the highest quality and from trusted brands that last / do not break after the first day.
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LaughterLaughter is a powerful tool that can bring healing and hope into any moment. We truly believe life is better when you are laughing!
Frequently Asked Questions
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Authenticity + Making A DifferenceWe are a group of authentic individuals who believe that no kid should feel alone when facing a chronic illness, terminal illness, or crisis situation. We believe that something as small as a toy or stuffed animal can provide hope, security, laughter, and a distraction—not only for a kid, but also for the staff, caregivers, and family.
-
Community + CollaborationWe go beyond giving "just another toy" by working with others to make a lasting impact. We value community partnerships because we know we can do more together than we can on our own.
-
FamilyFamily, for us, is more than just biological connections. We believe that no one should do life alone—everyone should feel connected, loved, and supported by others. As an organization, we prioritize creating time and space to continually nourish relationships. Not only do we provide our partner organizations with toys and activities to facilitate family time, but we also intentionally create space in our own calendar so that our families can spend time with each other.
-
QualityToys provide a way to bring hope and laughter to children in the darkest moments. We do our best to make sure that the items we donate are of the highest quality and from trusted brands that last / do not break after the first day.
-
LaughterLaughter is a powerful tool that can bring healing and hope into any moment. We truly believe life is better when you are laughing!
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