A real toy story: Canton charity keeps delivering holiday joy to Akron Children's Hospital

AKRON − A Canton family has turned personal tragedy into brighter holidays for young patients in Akron Children's Hospital.

For 30 years, the nonprofit Children's Toy Fund has gifted Christmas toys to hundreds of hospitalized children.

On Tuesday, a crew of volunteers led by Ashley Natale delivered 3,715 toys to Akron Children's, quickly filling up the hospital's volunteer office. The gifts will be wrapped in time for Santa to deliver them on Dec. 23.

The Children's Toy Fund was started in the 1990s by the late Cathi Bogavich and her stepsister, Kimberly Samuels of Canton, following the tragic death of a young family member Colin Morley. The 5-year-old was being treated at Akron Children's for pleuropulmonary blastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer that attacks the lungs and nearby organ tissue.

Natale is Bogavich's daughter and the fund's president. Bogavich died in 2010.

"My mom started the organization in 1992 when my young cousin was 2 1/2, and my mom and her stepsister spent a lot of time at Akron Children's," Natale said. "They saw a very big need no one was filling at that time; there were just hand puppets and coloring books. My mother and her stepsister started door-to-door, doing fundraisers for Akron Children's. They placed canisters in local Mini Marts."

Children's Toy Fund does its fundraising through bingo

In 1997, the nonprofit launched a state-licensed charitable bingo operation, which generates most of the budget. Games are held at 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at the CTF Party Center (former Ken-Mar Hall) at 2401 Swiss Ave. SW in Perry Township.

"We get a good following, but it's not at pre-COVID levels," Natale said. "We get about 120-200 people, just depending on the time of year."

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Natale said the group shops for and donates toys year-around to such agencies as Aultman Hospital, Pathway Caring For Children, Aultman Hospital in Orrville, Project KARE, the Domestic Violence Project and Caring for Kids.

"The biggest giveaway is done during the holiday, with more than 3,000 toys going to Akron Children's," she said.

The organization works with toy vendors and local retailers, including Walmart, Target, Sir Troy’s Toy Kingdom, Keillor's, and through Amazon. They also purchase directly through a few manufacturers.

"It just depends on what the request is we're receiving," Natale said. "The biggest thing that matters to us is quality over quanity. We shop for name brands that kids are familiar with."

Volunteers fuel Children's Toy Fund efforts

The small staff gets assistance from about dozen volunteers such as Becky McCarthy.

"This is the fun part," McCarthy said as she helped load boxes onto rolling carts. "It's fun doing the shopping."

Vicki Parisi, director of volunteers at Akron Children's, said Christmas will be made a little brighter for 250 young patients this year.

"Ashley and her group are amazing," she said. "We appreciate every donation. We could not do this without Ashley."

Parisi said child-life specialists will select gifts for the patients based on their age and interest.

Santa is scheduled to arrive on Dec. 23 by helicopter, an event known as "The Flight Before Christmas." If the weather outside is frightful, he'll arrive via a special ambulance.

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He'll be handing out plenty of fun items: Hungry Hungry Hippos to Legos and stuffed animals, Wispy Walker and Disney Princess dolls, Pokemon games, trucks, and toddler and baby toys.

Support is growing

Parisi said some toys not given out on Christmas will be made available for occupational therapy, birthdays, and to celebrate a patient ending treatment.

Natale, whose name is Italian for "Christmas," said the goal is to touch as many lives as possible.

"I was one of those kids who had asthma as a kid," she said. "I was in and out of the hospital a lot. Just to have that distraction."

And support for the Children's Toy Fund is growing.

"We're very family-oriented," she said. "As we've grown and learned over the years, people are still generous. We're 90% supported through bingo game, which is fantastic, but we're also getting support from people who want to join us because they understand what we're doing. We will continue to grow to fill that need. A lot of hospitals don't get a lot of support."

To learn more, visit childrenstoyfund.org or call 330-479-5393.

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton charity is Santa's Helper for Akron Children's Hospital