Collectibles with a cause

A Windsor charity and store are working together to give back.

The owners of a cartoon toy store have donated thousands of dollars in merchandise to Easter Seals.

Cartoon Kingdom on Walker Road has donated a large variety of high-end Disney art, Marvel, DC, Star Wars and Star Trek collectibles. Other donations include a few hundred novelty items, Funko Pop! Figures, anime and video game related toys to Easter Seals.

Just like other charities and organizations, COVID-19 has changed the way Easter Seals raises funds. It has also changed the way businesses donate as well.

“I don’t have my sales, so how do we help and how do we have the funds to help the charities,” said Arlen Mifflin, co-owner of Cartoon Kingdom with Nathaniel St. Pierre. “So, I had the discussion, to see if they could make use of older product and raise the money for funding their programs, and they could, so away we went with the idea.”

Even though COVID-19 has changed the world, Cartoon Kingdom’s Mifflin said they were still able to help show support towards the charity and the community.

“It’s an interesting situation, this donation we did is thinking outside the box,” said Mifflin. “They’re auctioning art items, and the hope is that they get as much money as they need or more… since we didn’t have the funds this year to donate nor did any other retailer that shut down.”

Mifflin said Cartoon Kingdom is not only known for their wide variety of merchandise, but also the charity work they do. He said they have dealt with a lot of charities over the years, but this one was a pivot in the sense of how they help and how Easter Seals fundraises due to Covid-19.

Since 1922, Easter Seals has been finding ways to make society more accessible to people with disabilities by providing accessories and equipment, support services and camps.

“What we’re hoping to do is help kids live their lives to the fullest,” said Jeremy Renaud, Easter Seals Development Officer. “There are barriers to participation in everyday life based on their disabilities… we raise funds and through a granting process will award mobility grants for families and kids that can benefit.”

One of the many teens helped by Easter Seals is Brigid Kidd, who was diagnosed at a young age with cerebral palsy. Her-mother Allison Kidd said they would not be where they are today without Easter Seals.

“It’s helped us with social connections because we got connections from camps,” said Allison Kidd. “They’ve also helped us purchase Brigid’s bed which is something that was very necessary at the time, and a bath lift that helped when Brigid wasn’t capable of getting out of the tub by herself.”

With all the work that goes into the charity year-round, they help many people across Canada. But, due to the pandemic, the number of helped people was lower in 2020 than other years.

“It should have been somewhere between 60 and 70 people,” Renaud said. “Grants can average from a minimum of $3000 to about $10,000, it’s really based on what type of equipment they need.”

Even though Cartoon Kingdom could not donate the usual way, Easter Seals’ Renaud is still very pleased with the donation made.

“We, at Easter Seals, are extremely grateful for Cartoon Kingdom’s support,” said Renaud. “We will unlock the full potential of this gift to ensure that the maximum number of children will be supported through our programs and services.”

With all the limitations COVID-19 has brought, Easter Seals has had to take more modern approaches to how they run the charity events.

“Due to COVID-19 all of our traditional events that have in person events were totally affected,” said Renaud. “An example of this was our signature event the annual telethon, we actually came up with a solution to do a pre-record where we only enabled 20 people an hour inside.”

Along with public events, Easter Seals has also been forced to change social activities like camp. Allison Kidd said COVID-19 has made things interesting for how they run activities now.

“Prior to COVID, Brigid’s big social activity every year was camp,” said Allison Kidd. “But this year, interestingly enough, she’s been more involved socially because of all the different things that Easter Seals is providing for them virtually.”

This time last year Renaud said they had 58 people who had requested grants, and the equipment can have a large range in cost.

“With the money that’s raised, it goes into our mobility grants program and then from there, to kids that apply for those grants,” said Renaud. “We identify what their equipment needs are, and then Easter Seals will pay for that equipment with the money that’s raised through the sale of these products.”

Those interested in helping Easter Seals can visit their website easterseals.ca for more information.