Who We Are

We are a 501(c)3 charity organization located in Canton, OH operating exclusively to bring toys, games, entertainment, and comfort to area children needing it most. We work as a resource for other 501(c)3 organizations in the area to provide the items simply not within their budget.

We are governed by a five member board of amazing community members and retain corporate counsel based out of Columbus, Ohio.

Our Beginnings

We were founded in the mid 1990s by a group of women who saw a need. They had children in and out of Akron Children's Hospital and, at the time, all that was available to distract the children was Pinky the Hand Puppet and coloring books that had pages mostly colored in. They set out to form the Children's Toy Fund to help provide more for our children that were facing difficult and scary times.

The driving force

Kimberly Samuel's son, Colin Morey, was diagnosed with pleuropulmonary blastoma at the age of 2 1/2. He ultimately would pass away at the age of 5, but his experiences in the hospital drove Kim's step-sister, Cathi Bogavich, to create the organization to bring more fun and joy to children facing difficult situations.

The early days

The founders spent the early days door-to-door fundraising. Their efforts would eventually grow into starting a state licensed bingo game in 1997. They developed a wonderful relationship with Akron Children's Hospital and helped to put the first Nintendo systems into their departments.

What does it look like today?

We have expanded beyond just the hospital setting to include foster care organizations. We have found immense need in both situations and in other supporting organizations. We continually refine what we do to help every organization better in the way that they need it. Our organizational heartbeat is for community, collaboration, and partnership - and we want to partner and help each and every organization in the way that is truly going to make a difference in the lives of the children and teenagers they service.

Expanding beyond "just another toy" by involving community youth

We started exploring service related opportunities in late 2018 to involve local youth in what we were already doing and have continued to grow those opportunities since. We operate with a small team so spending our time on creating tie blankets, bundles, and unique items is not something we can realistically do on a regular basis. By creating community relationships with youth groups, it has allowed us to go further than providing a simple toy to an amazing impactful bundle of items to children who truly need that boost. As a side script, we hope the community youth are able to take a wonderful experience of helping another kid in need with them into their own lives.

What's next?

It is our dream to expand beyond our local sphere of Northeast Ohio to provide much needed support across the state and beyond. Further than that, we dream of linking our two arms - Foster Care and Hospitals - by involving Foster Children in our community service projects to help show them it does not matter where you may find yourself in life, you can make a difference. This one is a side-script but we hope to someday make it a reality alongside our already established and growing community service projects.