Play it Forward toy drive gives some holiday cheer to those in need

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – In one week, Santa is coming to town, but at Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center, he arrived early with free toys for families in need so they can have a holiday to remember.

Monique Roberts is racing the clock to find the perfect gifts to place under the tree.

“Our boys are easy. Our daughter’s the difficult one,” Roberts said. “I just love waking up on Christmas morning and just seeing them happy.”

She and more than 1,500 other families wheeled into the convention center with wagons and luggage to fill with goodies for their kids.

“If I can give them that joy by any means, this is a great route to go,” Roberts said.

That route is “Play it Forward” Pittsburgh’s annual “Shop for Free Day.”  

Heather Starr Fiedler is one of two local moms who started the nonprofit in 2011, which collects gently used toys, saving them from landfills and giving them new homes to families who may need an extra hand.

“The way that the community comes together every year to put this project on is just simply astounding to us,” Fiedler said.

Since October, more than 50 different businesses and groups around the region acted as drop-off locations and then delivered the toys to the center this past week.

Through the years, it’s meant a lot to folks like Leroy Frederick.

“I had a couple of surgeries last year, and I couldn’t afford to get toys and stuff like this,” Frederick said. “Really helped my kids have smiles on their faces.”

This year, instead of focusing on his own family, he went to the center to shop for his nonprofit.

“I want to give back to someone else,” Frederick said.

After all, these days things aren’t cheap.

“The cost of everything is going up food, you know, gas, everything like that,” Roberts said.

This is especially the case when you have more than one kid.

“All these toys, they play with them for a while, and then they wind up outgrowing them, so why, you know stress out about having to buy something that’s brand new?” Roberts said. “As long as they’re happy and they’re playing with them, that’s all that matters.”

Then, when the kids age out, they can give back themselves, spreading the holiday cheer all around.

“We want to want our children to be able to enjoy Christmas just like any other children, so this is a wonderful program and we’re very grateful for it,” Roberts said.

The organization also partnered with DT Care, a local humanitarian nonprofit, to gather supplies for their art and family therapy programs in Ukraine.