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www.replayforkids.org

RePlay for Kids Annual Report :: 2015 2

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Our mission is to increase the availability of toys and assistive devices for children with disabilities. We repair, adapt and distribute toys and assistive devices free of charge. In so doing, we strive to raise awareness and increase the number and variety of toys and devices available to the children who need them. RePlay for Kids is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt, nonprofit. We provide these services at no charge to nonprofit organizations that provide medical, educational or recreational resources for children with disabilities in Northeast Ohio.

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N O O T H E R O R G A N I Z A T I O N I N N O R T H E A S T O H I O P R O V I D E S S I M I L A R S E R V I C E S .

Many service organizations in the area purchase specially adapted toys and assistive devices to aid children with disabilities, but due to the limited market, these items are significantly more expensive than their mainstream counterparts. Our partner agencies have limited resources and often cannot afford to replace broken toys or assistive devices. These organizations also lack the personnel with technical knowledge and available time required to modify and repair these devices.

We, at RePlay for Kids, provide these organizations free repair and modification services, thereby increasing the number of functioning toys and assistive devices available for children with disabilities.

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L E A R N I N G B Y P L A Y I N G .

Young children learn through play and social interaction. These activities teach them to relate to other people and to interact with and control their environment. Children with disabilities are no exception. For many children with disabilities, playing with toys is a critical step in learning alternative communication skills. Toys help these children develop play skills and teach them cause and effect rela-tionships. Limitations in strength and coordination in children with disabilities often prevent them from using mainstream toys. Adapted toys encourage a child to make a certain motion as part of his/her physical therapy treatment.

RePlay for Kids Annual Report :: 2015 5

P A S T 9 Y E A R S :

411 W O R K S H O P S

7,687 T O Y S R E P A I R E D O R A D A P T E D

$472,000+S A V E D

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T O Y W O R K S H O P S RePlay for Kids began hosting informal toy workshops since 1994, but was formally established in 1999 as a nonprofit organization to expand the toy repair and modification effort. We currently host toy workshops several times each month, during which volunteers spend a couple hours repairing and modifying toys and devices. Since we utilize small, portable toolkits, our workshops can be set up in a variety of locations. Workshops have been held at many including NASA, Ernst & Young, Nestle, Fifth Third Bank, Key Bank, Deloitte, Timken, GE, Keithley Instruments, Case Western Reserve University, University of Akron and Cleveland State University.

T O Y R E P A I R W O R K S H O P S During the 2-hour long workshop, volunteers work with RePlay for Kids guides to repair as many toys and assistive devices as possible. Activities often involve simple repairs and all items are checked for safe operation prior to being returned to the agencies.

T O Y A D A P T A T I O N W O R K S H O P S In these workshops, volunteers adapt mainstream, battery-operated toys by installing a switch cable in parallel with the original switch, allowing the toy to be operated by a variety of alternative switches that can be accessed by children with disabilities.

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P R O G R E S S Since 1999, volunteers for RePlay for Kids have repaired over 2,427 toys and assistive devices and produced over 6,447 adapted toys. In order to purchase replacements for the more than 8,874 toys and devices that were repaired or adapted over the past fourteen years, the agencies would have spent over $529,000. The past nine years, we have increased the number of toys and devices that have been repaired or adapted at workshops, from 368 in 2007 to 1,636 in 2015.

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C O N T I N U E D G R O W T H I N 2 0 1 5

114 workshops 2130 volunteers

250 toys repaired 1386 toys adapted

> $105,800 saved

• In 2015, we held several high school workshops, to teach students fun ways that technology helps kids with disabilities.

• We also held our first family workshops, where we taught family members how to adapt toys for their child with a disability, and gave them a toolkit to continue adapting toys at home.

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A N N U A L A D A P T E D T O Y G I V E A W A Y .

Each December, RePlay for Kids invites representatives from our partner agencies to come to our toy distribution event and select adapted toys to use with the children in their program. They choose from all the toys that our volunteers adapted during the past year, allowing the agencies to find the ones that are most appropriate for their clients. In December 2015, we gave away over 1200 adapted toys to our partner agencies.

P R O G R A M S P O T L I G H T - R E P L A Y @ H O M E . RePlay for Kids is continuing our RePlay @ Home program to provide low-income families with adapted toys to use at home. Adapted toys are often used in therapy sessions to encourage specific movements or actions. These therapy sessions become more effective if the child can practice at home. Most low-income families can not afford expensive adapted toys. RePlay for Kids is now working with our partner agencies to provide these families with free adapted toys for home use.

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• Cuyahoga County• Summit County• Lake County• Medina County

• Wayne County• Geauga County• Lorain County• Stark County

2 6 P A R T N E R A G E N C I E S I N 9 C O U N T I E S .

Boards of Developmental Disabilities:

Other Disability Agencies:

Children’s Hospitals:• Rainbow Babies & Children’s• Akron Children’s• Cleveland Clinic Children’s• MetroHealth Medical Center

• United Cerebral Palsy• Hattie Larlham Foundation• United Disability Services• Society for Handicapped Citizens• Aristocrat Berea• Matthew’s Lending Library

School Districts in:• Cuyahoga County• Summit County

• Lake County• Medina County

2 0 1 5 W O R K S H O P H O S T S . • Case Western Reserve

University• University of Akron • Cleveland State University• Kent State University• ITT Technical Institute• Medina & Westlake

Kiwanis• Cleveland Clinic• Beaumont School• St. Joseph Academy• Elyria High School

• National Inventors Hall of Fame School

• Medina County Career Center

• Medina High School• Jo-Ann’s• Deloitte• Nordson• Acumen Solutions, Inc.• Swagelok• GE• Progressive

• Goodyear• Hyland Software• Canton City Schools• Hoover High School• Akron STEM High School• Rosetta• Perkin Elmer• ArcelorMittal• Ernst & Young• Federal Reserve Bank• HSB Architects• Synchrony Financial• Tremco• Kohl’s• Albert M. Higley Co. • ABC Therapy• AmeriCorps• McGladrey LLP

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Q U O T E S .

“We estimate a savings of $350 to $500 annually in repair bills thanks to your organization.  This may not seem like much to some agencies but for us it is a small fortune.”

“The light-up musical toy you adapted was the only toy that motivated one of our autistic children to do his therapy”

“He loves getting his peers involved with his play, and these two very exciting toys brought his peers over to him. His smile lit up the room!”

“The toys that were donated are unique in that they are not toys that one would typically find in an adapted equipment catalog. The toys are age and gender appropriate and they are typical to the toys with which other children often play. This makes them very motivating and special to our students.”

“Please extend our gratitude to those responsible for giving our toys a new lease on life! We are so grateful that you were able to repair all of the toys we gave you and even adapt one for us so it can be used with a switch. We truly appreciate this service being offered at no cost to our agency. The toys have been put back on the shelf, ready for circulation in our toy lending library. We are so glad to have Re-Play for Kids as another partner in our effort to enrich the lives of children with disabilities.”

“The joy and excitement on the faces of the children has been immeasurable. The toys are also very reinforcing in establishing cause-effect relationships for children with disabilities. Some of the children with special needs have limited opportunities for "play" with toys that they can manipulate. Your do-nations have made their play time more meaningful and interactive for them.”

“You lit up his life with the giant teddy bear who sings, and the remote control car. He loves getting his peers involved with his play, and these two very exciting items, certainly brought them over to him. His smile lights up a room, and we thank you for helping make that happen.”

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C O N T A C T . RePlay for Kids600 W. Sturbridge DriveMedina, OH 44256

Facebook: www.facebook.com/replay4kids

Phone: (330) 721-8281Toll Free: 866-9-REPLAY (866-973-7529)Email: info@replayforkids.orgWeb: www.replayforkids.org

Twitter: twitter.com/replayforkids

F U N D I N G .

Foundations • Akron Community Foundation • O’Neill Foundation• Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund• Medina County Community Fund• Fowler Family Foundation• Willard Stephenson Foundation• Romich Foundation• Community Foundation of Lorain County• Ohio Children’s Foundation• Nordson Corporation Foundation• Musson Foundation• Nord Family Foundation• CVS Caremark Community Grant• CWRU’s Leonard Gelfand STEM Center• Lloyd L. & Louise K. Smith Foundation• Sisler McFawn Foundation• Stark Community Foundation• Ronald McDonald House Charities• Dominion Foundation• Saint Luke’s Foundation• CareSource Foundation

RePlay for Kids appreciates the support of all our donors!

Corporate Sponsors• Jones Day• ArcelorMittal

andMany Individual Donors!