Recalls Cause Concern For Toy Drive

Tuesday, December 4th 2007, 4:23 pm

By: News On 6

Call it the coal in the stocking of this year's Christmas. Toys with lead are a big concern in 2007 and a real danger. The News On 6â€™s Steve Berg reports there will be a lot of extra work for local toy drives. Volunteers like Gerry Austin have to go through pages of recalled toys to make sure none of these are on the list, while still trying to give kids what they asked for.

"We just try to make sure they get what they want," said Austin.

This isnâ€™t the first time the Salvation Army has gone through these precautions.

"We've always done that in years past, but this year we have to add an extra step," said Salvation Army Spokesman Brad Borror.

Borror says there is probably a tiny percentage of these toys on the recall list, but all it takes is one to spoil the season.

"We don't want any toys to go out this Christmas that are going to be harmful to any kids," said Borror.

That adds a lot of labor to an already labor-intensive sorting process.

"We've always worked up until the day before anyway, trying to get everything ready, so we are working a little extra hours and few extra people are really putting in some time out here," said Borror.

The other problem is the list keeps growing.

"So as we get a little bit closer to Christmas, some toys that weren't on the list today might be on the list this time next week," said Borror.

If the toys have already been put in the boxes for each family, they will have to re-sort what's already been sorted.

â€œYeah, it's a very long process for our volunteers," said Borror.

If you would like to volunteer, call the Salvation Army Joy Center at 622-9897.

Watch the video: Recall Has Effect On Toy Drive