Charity groups cautious of recalled toys

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Charitable groups across the United States have begun taking precautions to ensure a growing number of recalled toys from China are not donated.

With the number of recalled China-made toys increasing each week, charitable organizations like the Pirate Toy Fund have been forced to methodically search through their donations to ensure such toys do not make their way to needy children, the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle said Wednesday.

"It just seemed like toys just kept being added to the list," Pirate Toy Fund founder Gary Smith said. "This is a real hardship for us, and we don't even know how much it could deplete our toy inventory for the rest of the year."

Last month more than 800,000 Mattel toys were recalled due to the fact a dangerous amount of lead paint had been used in their production.

More than half of the 21 million toys worldwide included in the growing dilemma have been distributed in the United States.

The newspaper said that charity groups have asked U.S. citizens not to donate the tainted toys, but rather dispose of them or return them to their manufacturer.