Toy Store Owner Whose Business Closed Donates Inventory to Charity

A toy store owner whose business closed for good during the coronavirus pandemic donated her remaining inventory to a charity for kids fighting cancer.

Marie Liburdi, the owner of Teaching Toys, said she felt inspired to help after watching a news segment on the Bottomless Toy Chest, an organization that delivers toys year-round to pediatric cancer patients.

“It’s financial devastation for many small businesses,” Liburdi told WJBK. “I don’t know one toy store where kids can’t come in and touch and play and try and use materials…COVID [coronavirus] and germs, it’s just a no-win situation.”

The Bottomless Toy Chest’s executive director said the organization is extremely grateful for her generosity, especially during these trying times in the coronavirus pandemic.

“To get these toys at this time is really going to help us not only be able to continue our program but to expand it,” Mickey Guisewite, executive director of the Bottomless Toy Chest, said.