Toys of Hope charity receiving $30,000 donation from fellow Long Island nonprofit after theft, vandalizing of toys before Christmas

A Huntington Station charity’s pleas for help have been heard after thieves stole or destroyed thousands of donated toys for homeless children just before Christmas.

On Dec. 19, volunteers had sorted thousands of toys that had been specifically purchased for homeless and underprivileged children who had filled out wish lists for the holidays, Toys of Hope founder Missy Doktofsky told Newsday. The gifts were shrink-wrapped and placed under tarps outside the charity’s 167 E. Second St. warehouse, ready to be distributed, she said.

The next day, when the volunteers returned to the warehouse, Doktofsky said, they discovered many of the gifts had been stolen and other items had been vandalized or waterlogged by that day's snowstorm.

The Suffolk County Police Department confirmed the theft and said an investigation was underway.

Doktofsky said the vandalism left hundreds of children without their gifts.

The charity posted a video plea on Facebook over the weekend showing the ruined toys strewn around the distribution area and asking for public donations to help make up for the loss. Doktofsky estimated the loss to be between $20,000 and $30,000.

Hugo Amador, the public relations liaison for the Peter & Jeri Dejana Foundation, a Port Washington charity geared toward supporting the needy on Long Island, saw the theft story in Newsday.

"I relayed the issue to our executive vice president and we agreed to donate $30,000 to make up for the losses," Amador said in an email. "Fortunately, the Peter & Jeri Dejana Foundation is in a position to respond to urgent situations in the community. When we learned about the situation involving Toys for Hope, we moved quickly to determine how we could help. We hope that, through the foundation’s swift action, Toys for Hope will still be able to provide the gifts it had planned and bring the sense of hope that accompanies the holiday season to the children they serve."

Doktofsky said that when she got the text from the Dejana Foundation, she shook with disbelief.

"I got a text, and I could not even believe it," she said. "I was crying hysterically, I just never felt so supported and loved, and they totally understand the concept of our charity — what kind of joy and support and love we give to other families and children. It was mind-blowing. I couldn't stop crying. It's just the most exciting news ever; that they would be so gracious like that is pivotal for our agency to continue for a not-for-profit, to keep going, to have generosity from the community, but it's such an extreme outreach of love and generosity."

Amador flew from Florida on Tuesday to deliver the check personally to Doktofsky in Huntington Station.

"Hundreds of children would not have Christmas if not for this agency," she told Newsday. "This is incredible. We're going to turn this money into wonderful holiday things for hundreds of children who were immediately going to miss Christmas. They were going to miss a holiday. These gifts were the only gifts they were going to get. This is just a beautiful, beautiful gesture of extreme generosity."

Toys of Hope is a 32-year-old charity started by Doktofsky that collects wish lists from homeless and needy children and then buys the presents for them. The group now serves 65,000 children and their families each year, she said.

Doktofsky said that because there isn’t time to replace all the gifts that were stolen or destroyed in the theft, the charity will give the children gift cards so that they can purchase the toys they want for the holidays.