Ohio Ag Connection - Commerce Donates Repaired Toys for the Holidays

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Commerce Donates Repaired Toys for the Holidays
Ohio Ag Connection - 12/08/2016

Employees from the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Industrial Compliance and others donated their lunch hour and sewing skills today to carefully repair more than 250 stuffed toys, which will be donated to children this holiday season.

"This is a wonderful tradition that combines our efforts to ensure that products sold in Ohio are safe for Ohio consumers with the opportunity to help brighten the holidays for Central Ohio children and their families," said Commerce Director Jacqueline T. Williams. "Commerce volunteers are proud to give their time and show off their sewing skills to help spread some joy during this holiday season."

The Division's Bedding and Upholstered Furniture laboratory inspects filler material inside representative samples of stuffed toys and other products to ensure they are safe and accurately labeled.

Manufacturers send hundreds of items to the lab in Reynoldsburg each year where they are cut open by technicians to examine their contents. The technicians perform chemical and microscopic tests on hundreds of different types of fillers used in toys produced by manufacturers from around the world to ensure the items are safe for Ohio consumers. After inspection, manufacturers usually don't want the toys back. So, they are repaired by state employees who sew the incisions closed making them good as new.

This is the 31st year of the event, named the "Norman DeHaas Annual Holiday Sewing Project" in memory of long-time Bedding Section supervisor Norman DeHaas, who was an advocate of the project and active in local charities.

This year, the repaired toys will be donated to St. Stephens Community House in Columbus to benefit children who might otherwise go without gifts this holiday season.

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