New York Children's Charity Short on Toys

Thousands of New York children with HIV/AIDS may not receive Christmas gifts this year because the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center displaced an organization that collects toys for them. For a month after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Children's Hope Foundation was forced out of its office three blocks from the disaster site and could not receive deliveries for weeks afterward. The staff briefly worked out of the executive director's home, and then in another temporary spot as crews cleaned dust from their office. "About 60 to 70 percent of our donations come in at that time," said Jonathan Bee, coordinator for the group's toy program. "We probably have 1,000 toys and we're looking at 8,000 kids."

Nationwide, charities not playing a direct role in attack relief have delayed fund-raisers, stopped direct-mail programs and toned down their sales pitches. Some have done so out of concern that the relief efforts in New York and Washington should take precedence. Roughly 100 hospitals and agencies expecting gifts from Children's Hope have been notified of the toy shortage. "Children's Hope is our only way to get toys to the kids, and in turn, families rely on us for toys for their kids for the holidays," said Galia Galansky, a clinical case manager at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Family Immunology Center. "You want to make sure these kids have something to open on Christmas." Galansky said workers at the center may have to pool their own money for gifts.

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