When Jacqueline Cruz, the organizer of a beach toy library at the St. Cloud lakefront, found the bin empty recently, she knew she had to make a call to action.
Cruz said ever since this spring, she and her team have been re-stocking the bin more frequently.
“The bin would be empty, we would put three to four toys, go back the next day, and they would be gone like nothing was there,” Cruz said. “They weren’t on the beach, they weren’t on the shore, and they weren’t over by the splash pad.”
Cruz said they repeated the process for several weeks and noticed the bin would be empty within a day or two.
“It has been very disheartening this year,” Cruz said. “We’re not quite sure what to do. We don’t know if we should just leave the bin to do what it should do, and just have people bring their gently used toys there if they want to.”
Cruz said she feels bad for businesses that are donating toys and spending money because those toys are not staying there.
“If it continues, this beautiful little community resource simply will not survive,” Cruz said in a Facebook post. “People will stop donating. The bin will be empty. The kids who count on those toys will lose out.”
Cruz said the bin was created with love and generosity.
“It is a place where children can borrow gently used beach toys while they play by the lake and return them when they are done, so other children can enjoy them too,” Cruz said. “All the toys inside the bin have been donated by community members, people who care enough to share what they have, whether new or from their homes, to create joy for local kids.”
St. Cloud local and Crabby Bill’s employee Caleb Meyer said he’s been helping Cruz with the toy bin for three weeks and discovered where some of the missing toys had gone.
“I was cleaning up the toys when I walked over to the water park by Crabby Bills and there were toys in the trash,” Meyer said.
Meyer said the toy bin states in English and Spanish to return the toys once the kids are done playing with them.
“The parents don’t even bother to tell their kids to pick them up like they’re supposed to, and not put them back, because the parents are telling the kids that they can take them home instead of putting them back,” Meyer said.
Meyer said every time the toy bin gets restocked, the toys are gone the next day.
“So, what we’re thinking is maybe somehow these toys are getting put by the splash pad, and then people are just collecting them and then just throwing them away, even though they’re labeled, not realizing that it’s not trash. They’re city toys,” Cruz said.
Cruz said she urges the St. Cloud community to help.
“If you’re going to go home and take a toy, that means that next time you go to that beach, that toy isn’t going to be there,” Cruz said, “It’s really just about doing the right thing, borrowing and returning.”
Cruz said she sent an email to the city’s Parks and Recreation department to ask if signs could be put on the trash cans to inform residents that the toys aren’t trash, but no reply was given.
“Each toy should be put back in the bin, not in trash can,” Cruz said.
Cruz said due to the constant missing toys after each restock, she will no longer be asking for donations.
“It’s not fair to ask for donations anymore since the toys keep getting taken,” Cruz said.
Cruz said the Beach Toy Library Bin will now be in the hands of the residents.
“Caleb will continue to make sure that when there are toys there, they will get picked up at the end of the day,” Cruz said.
