You might have noticed the toys piled high in Fun Things Etc’s front window this month.  On Monday, October 1, all those toys will be given to eleven elementary schools across Haywood County.  Ten toys will be set aside and raffled off later in the day.

The collection of over 250 toys includes games, DVDs, modeling kits, and books donated by Uncle Skunkle, Crossen Creations, FindItGames, b.dazzle inc, PlayMais Canada, Amazing Science!, Moving Picture Books, Education Outdoors, We R Fun Games, and The Spelling Bee Game.  ToyDirectory.com worked with each company to arrange the donations and then chose four specialty toy stores nationwide to distribute the toys to their local schools.  Fun Things Etc was one of those four stores.

The public elementary schools receiving the toys are Waynesville, Bethel, Clyde, Central, Meadowbrook, Riverbend, Jonathan Valley, North Canton, Junaluska, and Hazelwood.  Denise Teague, owner of Fun Things Etc, will hand out the toys to representatives from each school Monday at 1:00 PM.  Toys have also been set aside for two of the area’s private schools, Haywood Christian Academy and Bethel Christian Academy.

The toy store partnered with the Haywood County Schools Foundation to coordinate the distribution of the toys to as many local schools as possible.

As part of the giveaway, Fun Things Etc is also raffling off ten of the toys to customers.  The raffle drawing will also take place Monday, October 1, when the store closes at 6:00 PM.  Customers can enter the raffle by making a purchase of any amount between now and October 1.  There is no minimum purchase required, but every $10 spent earns an additional raffle entry.

Teague, who is closing Fun Things Etc in October, says she’s glad for this opportunity to give back to the community.

“Hopefully, people will continue thinking of Fun Things Etc in a positive way long after the store is closed,” says Teague.