Dayton Children's 2023 holiday gift drive and donation drop off day

Every year, generous people within our community (like you!) donate truckloads of toys and gifts to the patients at Dayton Children's Hospital for the holidays and beyond. Dayton Children’s is hosting a holiday gift drive event, in partnership with Planes Moving and Storage, on Saturday, December 16 at our warehouse location in downtown Dayton. Busy this holiday season? Let us do the shopping for you by purchasing one of our curated gift packages for hospitalized kids as a donation today!

dates and times:

Saturday, December 16 | 9:00 am – 1:00 pm

RSVP and let us know you're coming here.

location:

Dayton Children's warehouse - 140 North Keowee Street, Dayton, Ohio 45402 (look for our signs and banners to direct you through our drive thru)

frequently asked questions

How will it work? When donors arrive to the drop off event, they will be able to pull their car up and open their trunk full of gifts.  Dayton Children’s volunteer “elves” will be ready to help unload the donations for you. 

What can be donated? There are four ways you can donate this year: 

1. Let us do the shopping: Monetary donations allow the Dayton Children’s child life staff to shop for items they know patients really want. Make a donation at support.daytonchildrens.org/givechildlife. 
2. Donate a curated gift package for hospitalized kids: Made with our patients' needs in mind by our child life team, there are options for babies & toddlers, young kids, teens, families, and more. Purchase a gift package for donation here.
3. Shop our Amazon wish list: When you shop our Amazon wish list, your donation will be shipped directly to the hospital!
4. Do your own shopping and drop the unwrapped items off at our holiday gift drive! There are so many fun options to donate, but the one thing we ask is that all donations must be new. To make it easy for the community we’ve developed a wish list of items and a list of items we cannot accept. View the full wish list at childrensdayton.org/wishlist. 

Is there anything that cannot be donated?

Due to infection control and for the safety of our patients, we cannot accept: 

• Used items, including toys, books, electronic and board games, stuff animals, etc.
• Homemade/crocheted/knit items, including blankets, clothing, hats, etc.
• Blankets or pillowcases 
• Toys, books and movies with violent themes or weapons, including nerf guns, swords, water guns, action figures with weapons, etc.
• Sporting equipment/riding toys, including scooters, skateboards, bicycles, footballs, etc.
• Food or candy

Should we wrap our gift donations?

No, unwrapped is best! This makes it easier to sort and pick out the best gifts for each child based on their needs and interests.

What if someone can’t make it to our holiday gift drive?

While individual drop offs cannot be accommodated, monetary donations are always welcome. These donations allow the Dayton Children’s child life staff to shop and we'll shop for the items wanted and needed most for patients all year long. You can make a donation directly to our child life team, purchase a curated gift packages for hospitalized kids or shop our Amazon wish list and have the items shipped directly to the hospital!

Additional questions:  Please call our child life department at 937-641-3303.