Donating Goods and Services to
Horizons for Homeless Children

Horizons for Homeless Children relies on the support of the many people who give goods and services.

If you are interested in donating goods, please review our wish list below. If you have questions regarding donations, please contact 617-553-5455.

If you are interested in donating services such as printing, catering, design, public relations or other services, please contact 617-553-5455.

Horizons for Homeless Children Wish List

Donating items from the list below can help free up financial resources that we can then use directly in our programs for homeless children.

1. BEFORE MAKING YOUR DONATION, call our office at 617-553-5455 between 9 am and 5 pm. This will allow us to schedule a drop-off appointment and plan for distribution.
2. So that we may thank you for your donation and provide a receipt for tax purposes, please include with your donation your name, address and estimated value of your donation.
3. All items on this list are requested to be in new or like new condition.  All toys must be new. Items should not be wrapped and should be age appropriate (for children ages 2 months to 6 years old except where noted). Please review our wish list carefully and contact us if you have any questions.  We regret we are not able to pick up donations at this time.

 Ongoing High Priority List

All items must be new and appropriate for children ages 0-6.

• Teething rings
• Birdseed
• Reusable shopping bags
• Paper goods and supplies:
  • 7" & 9" plates (plastic or paper; Chinet style preferred)
  • 30oz. bowls (plastic or paper; Chinet style preferred)
  • Plastic forks and spoons
  • 5oz. plastic cups
  • Facial tissue
  • Tri-fold paper towels
  • Plastic table clothes
  • Heavy duty trash can liners (33 and 44 gallon)
• Swiffer mop and Swiffer refills
• Portable CD player with FM transmitter (for use in our vans)
• Children's toothbrushes and toothpaste
• Durable child-sized art smocks
• Colored masking tape
• Laminating sheets/rolls
• CD/Tape Players (shock proof if possible)
• Digital camera
• Digital video camera
• Laptop
• Children's carpet/play mat
• Plastic storage bins with covers (large size)
• USB Flash Drive
• Car Seats (new or less than 5 years old)
• AA, C, and D batteries
• Flat Screen TV
• DVD Player
• Ice packs and Band-Aids for first aid kits

Items Needed on an Ongoing Basis

Toys

All items must be new and appropriate for children ages 0-6.

• Infant toys (i.e. rattles, soft books, unbreakable mirrors, stacking blocks, mobiles, soft keys, etc.)
• Multicultural baby dolls and soft cloth dolls
• Pushing toys / pulling toys
• Wooden Ride-on toys
• Doll accessories (cribs, strollers, cradles, bottles, clothes)
• Doll houses and furniture (wood only) suitable for preschool children
• Age appropriate rhythm and musical instruments
• Science toys (magnets, magnifying glasses, bug boxes, sorting boxes, balance scales, tornado tubes)
• Manipulative toys (Lincoln logs, magnetic/wooden blocks, bristle blocks, large beads to string, stacking toys, peg boards, lacing toys, shape sorters, table blocks, Duplo Legos, Duplo baseplates, Kid K'Nex, Snap Blocks, Bendables, Gears N Gizmos, Unifix Cubes, etc.)
• Dramatic play/make-believe toys (i.e. kitchen & multi-cultural food sets, doctor sets, adult size plastic dishes, dress up clothes that are in good condition, unbreakable full size mirrors)
• Dramatic Play clothes (multicultural and community helpers)
• Puzzle rack and puzzles (beginner with pegs, wooden simple puzzles)
• Cause and effect toys (pop up type toys, wooden marble runs, etc.
• Board games (brand new only accepted)
• Games for 3-5 year olds (Lotto, UNO, Chutes and Ladders, etc.)
• Games for 5-8 year olds (Connect Four, Checkers, Chess, Parcheesi, Monopoly Jr., Scrabble Jr., etc.)
• Small bean bags
• Ring toss games
• Multicultural children's CD's
• High quality children's CD's (Raffi, Hugh Hanley, etc.)
• Classical music CD's
• Sturdy cars and trucks
• Playground balls and ball pump
• Water play kits
• Sand toys
• Tricycles (designed for frequent use)

Arts and Craft Supplies

• Paint (watercolor, school paint, and finger paint, all in larger sizes), paintbrushes, paint daubers and large sized crayons and markers
• Craft supplies (glitter, craft sticks, pompoms, colored pipe cleaners, feathers, buttons, gallon and regular size glue bottles, Crayola
• Model Magic Clay, Play-Doh and rolling pins, cookie cutters, stencils, wiggle eyes )
• Paper (easel, finger paint, construction, shiny, tissue paper, contact paper, poster board, butcher roll paper , preschool lined)
• Large rolls of paper and paper rack
• Stickers, Magnetic letters and shapes
• Felt board and story pieces
• Child safe scissors - round edge, plastic
• Waterproof smocks
• Water based stamp pads with stamps
• Tape: masking tape, colored tape, scotch tape
• Dry erase markers
• Ballpoint pens

Books

• Multi-Cultural
• Diverse family types
• Children/adults with diverse abilities
• Books without words
• Spanish books
• Spanish/English books
• Board books
• Books with grandparents
• Big books for group story times
• Books on tape

Computer Equipment / Electronics

• Laminating film rolls
• CD/Tape Players (shock proof if possible)
• Cordless electric drills

Miscellaneous

• Pajamas (adult sizes xs-xl)
• Hat, gloves, scarves (matching sets)
• Calendars/agendasCosmetic cases
• Purses
• Manicure sets
• Lotions/body wash
• Throw blankets
• Crib sized quilts
• Disposable diapers-all sizes
• Baby wipes and Clorox wipes
• Floor quilts for babies
• Floor Pillows
• Children's underwear and socks (sizes 2T-6, NEW ONLY)
• Tool kits
• Plastic bins with lids attached (shoebox sizes and larger)
• Bags of play sand (contact us before purchasing)
• Latex or latex free gloves (powder free)
• Boppy pillows and slipcovers

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE CANNOT ACCEPT

• Used items
• Barbie dolls
• BRATZ dolls
• Stuffed animals
• Military/Action/Superhero figures (Spiderman, Iron Man, anything with weapons)
• Toys that are broken / missing parts
• Small toys that present a choking hazard
• Candy
• Balloons
• Fake tattoos
• Clothing (except items listed above)

In addition to the above items, Horizons for Homeless Children often seeks supplies such as office equipment, furniture, bulk quantities of paper for printing agency collateral etc.  As these needs arise, we will post them specifically on this page, but if you are interested in donating items like these that we could use at a future time, please call us at 617.553.5422.

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE CANNOT ACCEPT

• Barbie dolls
• BRATZ dolls
• Stuffed animals
• Military/Action/
  Superhero figures (Spiderman, Iron Man, anything with weapons)
• Toys that are broken /
  missing parts
• Small toys
  that present a choking hazard
• Candy
• Balloons
• Fake tattoos
• Clothing (except items listed here on the wish list)