The Importance of Toy Donations for Children’s Hospitals in Summit County

How WoodWorkers With Heart Volunteers Support Akron Children’s Hospital

In the year 2024, over 100,000 children saw the Emergency Room at Akron Children’s main campus alone. 10,350 children were admitted to inpatient care, and 21,513 children underwent surgery. Even for adults, deciding to visit a hospital or undergo surgery is stressful and full of uncertainty. For a child, the event is often even less understood; medical jargon is thrown around, big words that they have never heard, monitors and machines they’ve never seen, and strangers popping in to check on them create a chaotic and overwhelming scene. 

The hospital staff tending to these children are not without empathy. Many nurses spend much of their shift attempting to ease the confusion and uncertainty for their patients and their parents. Pediatrics has found that using toys in medical settings can help. That is why many hospitals, like Akron Children’s located in Summit County, Ohio, are recipients of hospital toy donations. 

Why Toys Play a Critical Role in Pediatric Healing

A study completed in 2019 focused on the use of toys with inpatient children and found several positive effects reported by the nurses. It is already common in pediatric practices to have toys and activities available in the waiting room. Most people and parents understand children need entertainment while waiting, but might not stop to think about how children who are admitted to a hospital room are spending their time. So, why should the use of toys start and stop in the common areas only?

Admittance to inpatient care is a huge disruptor to a child’s routine. Routine is incredibly important to children, and this disruption can be an emotionally traumatic event, triggering stress, fear, and anxiety. They are in a new environment, with new routines they do not understand, and surrounded by strangers. 

The nurses in this study found that not only did providing the toys to children ease their negative emotional responses, but it also helped them build a strong, trusting relationship with their patient. By providing the toy personally, they can aid in their patient’s understanding of what their situation is, and assure them that the nurses and doctors want to make it better. 

While research finds several positive benefits to utilizing toys in pediatric care, hospitals cannot systemically and financially provide toys to each patient. 

Why Hospitals Can Only Accept Specific Toy Donations

By accepting donations of toys that are free of common allergen materials such as latex, are hygienic, safe (not pointy to be used as a weapon), and age-appropriate for toddlers to teenagers, they can offer some relief to the children. Toys are used as a coping mechanism as a distraction from the procedures or check-ins, a reward for being brave, or a celebration for a milestone in their recovery. They can also be given as gifts if a child is admitted on their birthday, or missing out on larger life events they would normally be attending. 

While toys can be used as therapeutic tools in stressful situations, hospitals’ hands are tied in being able to provide them to their patients directly. Hospitals must be sterile environments; sharing toys between patients violates hygienic policies. Nurses' hands are full with their patients' care, and they do not have extra seconds to spend sanitizing toys from patient to patient. This would mean hospitals would have to provide new toys to every patient. To fund a toy at each location, Akron Children’s would need to purchase over one and a half million toys every single year. As a business, it would require a “toy budget,” and budgets are almost always passed down to the consumer; in this case, the patients. A “toy budget” should not be an overhead cost factored into a patient’s medical bill. 

So, the hospital instead relies on the community’s support for toy donations. In 2024, the Children’s Toy Fund recorded just under 10,000 toys donated to the Akron Children’s campus. That is only one organization that came through to support these young patients. There are several initiatives led by nonprofits in Stark and Summit County that contribute to the availability of toys. 

How WoodWorkers With Heart Contribute to Toy Donations

In 2025, the nonprofit organization WoodWorkers With Heart, located in Green, Ohio, donated over 3,000 toys. WoodWorkers With Heart’s primary mission and focus is providing beds to children in Summit County, Ohio. The organization was founded in 2018 by Gerry Fey, who saw a community need. 

Fey and his trusted team of board members have since secured lumber donations directly from manufacturers. This is a win for the organization, the children, and the environment. Fey and a team of dedicated volunteers lead small groups in assembly-line-style bed builds. Each volunteer learns a woodworking skill so that the group can put together multiple bed frames to be later delivered to families in need. 

As the group cleans up at the end of their build, they gather the leftover lumber not needed to make the bed frame. Rather than wasting this leftover lumber, Fey put it to good use by making wooden toys. His volunteers now have another task - painting them. 

Painting the wooden toys becomes another event for groups and individuals of all ages and skill levels. With wooden toys being much smaller than beds, volunteers have the opportunity to paint at the WoodWorkers With Heart base shop or to pick up ready-to-paint toys and take them home. As long as the toys end up back in Fey’s hands, he can then deliver them directly to Akron Children’s Hospital. 

How Can I Help Support Toy Donations?

While the Summit County nonprofit is grateful for monetary donations, a volunteer’s heart is all that is needed. WoodWorkers With Heart welcomes individuals, families, schools, and businesses to participate in hands-on activities that directly benefit children in local hospitals. From shop days to bed builds to painting wooden toys, there is a space for everyone to help. 

Do I Need Woodworking Skills or Artistic Ability?

No prior experience is needed. Volunteers of all skill levels and ages are welcome. Tasks are designed to be simple and accessible. From painting wooden toys to helping with organization and cleanup, there are opportunities for people of all ages to contribute in meaningful ways while learning something new. 

Why Do Nonprofits Play Such an Important Role in Supporting Children’s Hospitals?

Nonprofits help bridge the gap between hospital needs and community generosity. By coordinating volunteers, sourcing materials, and ensuring donated toys meet hospital safety standards, organizations like WoodWorkers With Heart allow hospitals to focus on medical care while still providing comfort to young patients.

How Can Someone Take the Next Step to Getting Involved?

To those looking to contribute to hospital toy donations through nonprofits, every small action makes a difference. Follow nonprofits like WoodWorkers With Heart on Facebook, and like and share their posts. Contact the founder to coordinate a volunteer activity, or make a small monetary contribution to help their efforts.