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Overcast Baldwin man begins collecting items for Toys for Tots
Andrew Rifkin is using the power of social media to encourage neighbors in communities like Baldwin and Oceanside to donate to Toys for Tots.
Entering his eighth year of hosting the toy drive, Rifkin is working with the Long Island chapter of Toys for Tots, visiting various communities to collect unopened and unwrapped toys, as well as money. He also works with businesses in these communities to set up donation drop-off boxes in their stores.
Rifkin initially started this charity event at a car show in 2015, when he brought with him a Toys for Tots’ donation box. He only collected about six toys then, but it doubled the next year. He then started to advertise the toy drive on Facebook and offered to pick up any toys from anyone willing to donate.
“I started putting on my social media that Toys for Tots is a great organization, and if anyone wants to donate toys, I am more than willing to pick them up,” Rifkin, a Baldwin resident, said.
Rifkin said he recently visited an Oceanside resident’s home to pick up toys to be donated.
The drop-off date for these toys will be Dec. 3 at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale. Rifkin mentioned he had his friends help him drop off the toys last year.
“I have a friend (David Barr) who owns a major child’s toy company (KidKraft) that found out I was doing Toys for Tots, and he sent me a pallet of 900 pounds of children’s toys,” Rifkin said. “I probably get several hundred toys a year.”
According to Rifkin, Barr donated about 500 to 600 toys last year.
Marine Corps Reserve Maj. Bill Hendricks created Toys for Tots in 1947, when his wife, Diane, who had a few handcrafted dolls, asked Hendricks to deliver them to an agency that supports children in need. When Hendricks told his wife that he could not find such an organization, his wife instructed him to start one. Now, 76 years later, Toys for Tots’ drives are organized across the country.
Rifkin is instrumental in carrying out Hendricks’ vision here on Long Island. He posts about the toy drive in several Baldwin Facebook pages, and whenever someone donates toys or money, he makes sure that everyone knows about it. Utilizing Facebook helps Rifkin gain more attention to the toy drive, which then helps him receive more donations.
“I post a picture of the face of the person who donated on a fake cover of a magazine,” Rifkin said. “I always post them with their names on Facebook in the selection ‘Who I am with’ because then their friends get to see the post.”
He also posts on the Baldwin Class of ‘77 Facebook page whenever someone donates. Rifkin said he sends updates on the page that shows the progress of the donations he has received so far.
Rifkin just started to collect donations for this year’s toy drive, and he expressed hope that he will collect a lot by December.
Rifkin explained that he hosts this event every year so that he can “pay it forward.” The toys are sent out to kids who are less fortunate due to their economic status. Rifkin added that he wants to make these kids feel like any other child.
“It’s all about the kids,” Rifkin said.
Rifkin always has several Toys for Tots’ donation boxes on hand if any business owners want to put them in their stores. Whether it’s a deli on Grand Avenue, a motor vehicle shop, or any other business, Rifkin said he’d be more than happy to place a donation box there.
“I probably have a half a dozen boxes in my car at all times,” Rifkin said. “Anybody that wants one, I am more than willing to drop it off.”
Rifkin can be reached at (516) 960-8385 or on Facebook at Andrew S. Rifkin.
