Las Vegas Charity Spotlight: Toys 4 Smiles

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Toys 4 Smiles, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, crafts wooden cars and trucks from donated wood and gives them away to needy children in the Las Vegas area. Volunteers are always needed, no experience necessary. They will train.

The Toys 4 Smiles volunteers make six different wooden toys. These toys are not simply playthings, but tools that help unlock a child’s ability to think, to be creative, and to cope with the world around them.

Toys 4 Smiles

Since its beginning, Toys 4 Smiles has provided toys for hospitals, family shelters, schools, churches, military dependents, foundations, and numerous organizations. All toys go to children in need (A needy child is not necessarily poor). Many of them have never before owned a toy–or anything else.

The goal of Toys 4 Smiles is to provide a toy for every needy child in Southern Nevada. Special needs or requests elsewhere are always considered.

All funding is donated by various individuals and organizations. Many things at Toys 4 Smiles are donated. Monetary donations are used to purchase wheels, axle pegs, saw blades and to pay overhead costs. Funding is becoming crucial for this rapidly growing endeavor.

Great blessings to the heart and soul are the only payment. No one at Toys 4 Smiles is paid. All work, including that by managers and staff, is volunteer.

All the hardwood used to make the toys is donated. Facilities that use hard wood in their manufacturing process are urged to contact Toys 4 Smiles. It is usually scrap wood that would have been wasted. This makes Toys 4 Smiles a GREEN organization.

You can donate time, money or supplies or spread the word to those who may be in a position to help. Look over their needs on the Toys 4 Smiles web site (below). Which ever way you wish to donate, work at Toys 4 Smiles is a very rewarding experience.