Alameda County Toy Drive for Homeless Children

ALAMEDA COUNTY TOY DRIVE FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN

The Attorneys for Children Committee (“AFC Committee”) is an autonomous, completely self- funded group of volunteer attorneys and members of the legal community who become busy elves from August to January to insure the County’s homeless children have at least one new gift to open during the holiday season.

For more than fifteen years, the AFC Committee has distributed thousands of toys, books and educational games through its annual “Holiday Toy Drive for Homeless Children.” Thanks to the generosity of the Alameda legal community the AFC Committee has been able to make a difference in the lives of homeless children during the holiday season.

Supporters of the Holiday Toy Drive for Homeless Children include the Alameda County Family Law Association, Law Center for Families, Burnham & Brown, Quinn’s Lighthouse in Alameda, host of the annual Holiday Toy Drive Kickoff Party and various other local law firms and lawyers. AFC’s efforts are further supported by various corporate sponsors who either make generous donations of toys or offer the committee significant discounts or wholesale prices. These corporations include KB Toy Outlet in Vacaville, Longs Drugs, Scholastic Books, Folkmanis and Le Top.

The Allen E. Broussard Scholarship Foundation acts as the fiscal agent for the AFC Committee. The AEBSF is a qualified non-profit, tax deductible entity under the United States Internal Revenue Code 501c(3).

The Attorneys for Children Holiday Toy Drive for Homeless Children has no paid staff or office space. There is no administrative overhead and one hundred percent of the funds raised by the toy drive go to purchase toys and other gifts for the children in need. With the cash donations, the Committee is able to purchase a wide variety of toys, clothes and books for children from infants to teens and backpacks, watches, and personal grooming items for homeless adolescents. Any monies that are received too late for that year’s holiday season are used as seed money to purchase toys for the next holiday season.

In 2007, the committee filled request from more than 20 shelters and other programs serving homeless children in need throughout Alameda County. In all, the Committee donated approximately 4100 toys and other gifts. The committee’s goal is to remind children in shelters or otherwise in need that they are not forgotten and that the community values them and has faith in their future.