"I was appalled at the price of toys," Elford said. "How can people afford this stuff?"
Then she had another thought - "I wish it was yard sale season" - followed by a spark of an idea - why can't it be?
And from there, things just got bigger and better.
On Thursday night she was joined by a small army of volunteers who were scurrying about the Galloway United Methodist Church gym pricing and organizing the first wave of donated items. Elford was about a third of the way to her goal as of 6:30 p.m. "I'm hoping more stuff will show up," she said.
From 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, December 2, she will accept clean, gently used, like new and new toys for ages baby through teen, including dolls, cars, books, sporting items, costumes, stuffed animals, and imagination items. Her wishlist includes "anything a kid would play with," she said. Donations can be dropped off by using the front entrance of the church, which is located off Route 417.
All the money raised will be donated to the Family Service & Children’s Aid Society's shelter for domestic and sexual abuse victims.
As for the remaining toys, Elford says that has never been an issue, even the first year in the blizzard. That year, as they were cleaning up the remaining items a woman pulled up who said their family could not afford toys that year due to losing their employment. "We just loaded her up," Elford said as she recalled hitting her mission right from the start.
Find out more about the sale through the Facebook event page.