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Recalls take toys from tots in Wyoming

One Marine Corps League detachment is changing its game plan this holiday season after popular toy makers such as Mattel and Fisher Price recalled more than 10 million toys manufactured in China.

Instead of collecting playthings for the Marine Toys for Toys Foundation, Commandant Leo Sanchez of the Central Wyoming Detachment is encouraging his members to accept monetary donations that will be used to purchase gift certificates to stores such as Kmart or Target and restaurants such as Outback Steakhouse or McDonalds.

The toys were recalled this summer after it was discovered some contained lead paint or small parts that posed a choking hazard.

“I had a great fear that we could give away a toy to child and have that child get hurt or injured,” Sanchez said.

The detachment will still collect toys, but league members have posted fliers at stores where toys have been collected in the past asking for financial donations instead.

This is not the first time the detachment has collected funds in addition to toys. Last year, the detachment collected money so it could give gifts to teenagers, collecting about $6,000.

Sanchez said there was an initial concern that parents might take the gift certificates from the children and spend them on themselves, but there was no evidence of that occurring last year.

“A lot of times, we saw kids taking their families out to dinner with them and hope that happens this year,” he said.

The Marine Corps announced earlier this month that it’s looking for additional volunteers to sort recalled toys from those donated this year, according to a Corps press release.