Toy Recall - Fewer toy donations for children in need -- Opinions?

Question

See this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20071218/ts_csm/atot

"Toy totals are 30,000 this year compared with last year's 140,000 at the local headquarters here in Los Angeles, Sergeant Torres says." (about Toys for Tots)

'"We are getting so many e-mails and calls from families who are concerned about not having toys to give to their kids," Torres says.... "We barely have enough toys to cover any of the lists from the various organizations that we work with like local schools and churches."'

"Salvation Army Centre City Corps Community Center in San Diego, asks for close to 7,000 toys each holiday season."
------------

The last time I checked there were no cases of lead poisoning from kids (please correct me if I am wrong), yet we're treating it like an epidemic. Many children are going to go without a Christmas this year mostly because of lead paint.

What's worse, no toys, or toys that hold a very very very very tiny chance of getting your kid sick?

Opinions?

Answer 1

The article I read said donations and charitable giving were far down in general. As for us, what makes a lot of sense to me, is to give gently used toys as a donation to the Salvation Army Store in my town or just give money for them to get the kind of toys they need the most.

Answer 2

I wouldn't give any child an unsafe too, but there are many alternatives to things with lead paint-- stuffed animals, coloring books, crayons, regular books, clothing, board games...