Organise a toy drive in your company for Christmas

Among the responsible initiatives that companies can launch as the year draws to a close, a toy drive is something that can be organised quickly and bring people together behind a charity project.
Carijou is a local non-profit which helps set up corporate toy drives.

A drive coordinated by a local non-profit

Carijou is a contraction of 2 words, CARItas and JOUet (French for toy) and is a job integration charity run by the Fédération de Charité Caritas Alsace. Set up in 2000, and a pioneer in the social and solidarity economy, it is the first organisation specialising in recycling second-hand toys.
Carijou’s aim is to support people excluded from the workplace and help them find their feet socially and workwise.
People in the charity’s integration scheme carefully sort, clean and assemble the toys, thereby helping to build up the circular economy and give new life to toys and prevent unnecessary wastage.
The toys are collected not just in companies, but also through the general public, other charities, at schools and with toy retailers. They are then sorted, cleaned, reassembled and refurbished to be sold at low prices in a solidarity shop.
Carijou collects: board games, jigsaw puzzles, card games, toy cars and trains, circuits, garages, books, CDs, DVDs, video games, game consoles, bikes, scooters, skates, toboggans, skis, DIY material (pearls, balls, plasticine, etc.), construction toys, costumes, play sets (dolls, figures, cradles, kitchens, accessories) and toys for infants (cuddly toys, teddy bears, playmats, etc.).

How do you organise the toy drive?

The first step in organising a toy drive is appointing an e-coordinator in the company, who will deal with the following:

• Contacting Micia NICOD at Carijou (mnicod.carijou@federationcaritasalsace.org) to set up the drive and provide support when necessary (raising employee awareness, for example).
• Selecting an area within the company for the toy drive. Carijou can provide containers and also arrange for their collection.
• Giving out information about the toy drive (sustainability approach, place, duration, condition of the toys) to employees. Ideally, the drive should last 2 weeks and can be organised at any time of the year (not just at Christmas).

While toys collected within the company are sold to the general public, it is people with low resources who are the main beneficiaries, with jobs being created by the toy refurbishment.
Carijou will be running a stall at Strasbourg’s OFF market over the Christmas period. The Eurometropolis of Strasbourg has signed an agreement with the charity behind Carijou’s professional insertion initiatives.

You do not work in a company, but you still want to make a donation ?

Between December 12 and 18, take part in the great solidarity collection of the Village du Partage. Participating and present associations will be able to collect your donations directly in their chalet. Humanis will then collect and redistribute the products collected to participating associations but also to external associations.

Let's show solidarity and donate dry food, hygiene products, clothes, toys and stuffed toys to the Village du Partage.

Thank you for your generosity !