Non-Monetary Donations
Donation Guidelines for Toys & Other Items
We are grateful that you are interested in donating items for the patients and families at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Donations are always needed for children to use while they are hospitalized or receiving treatment. Items are also appreciated for gifts for patients on their birthdays, special holidays, off therapy parties and treatment milestones.
We cannot accept
- Materials with a religious theme
- Used items such as fabric dolls, stuffed animals, cardboard games, books and puzzles
- Homemade food and candy items (see below for information on food items that may be donated for patient families)
- Rubber/latex balloons
Items we can accept
New infant/toddler items
- Busy boxes
- Stacking toys, nesting cups, plastic rattles and teethers
- Push/pulltoys and pop-up toys
- Shape sorter toys
- Crib activity centers
- Play telephones
- Plastic books
- Lullaby CDs
- Light-up/musical toys
- Hard plastic toys that can be washed
- VTech toys
New preschool items
- Duplos/Legos
- Matchbox cars
- Board games
- Plastic toy figurines
- Baby dolls (all plastic parts), clothes
- Barbie dolls, clothes
- Balls
- Bubbles
- Age appropriate DVD movies (rated G)
- Medical play kits
- Fisher Price people, houses, farms, airports
- Fisher Price CD players
- Hard plastic toys that can be washed
- Any items featuring Paw Patrol, Doc McStuffins, Cars, and Mickey and Minnie
New school-age items
- Any items featuring Dora the Explorer, Finding Nemo, SpongeBob SquarePants, superheros, Star Wars, Minecraft, Frozen and other Disney characters.
- Etch-A-Sketch or Magna Doodle
- Age appropriate DVD movies (rated G or PG)
- Tonka trucks
- Games (Sorry, Connect Four, Battleship, Monopoly Junior, Clue Junior, Guess Who?)
- Portable CD player with ear phones
- Legos and Lego sets
- Coloring books, crayons, markers and colored pencils
- Fuzzy posters
- Play-doh
- Handheld elecronic games
- Craft kits
New teen items
- Games (Playing cards, UNO, Monopoly, Simon, Trivial Pursuit, chess, checkers, Skip Bo, Phase 10, Rubik's Cube)
- Music CDs
- Age appropriate DVD movies (Rated G, PG or PG-13 only)
- Stationary and journals
- Adult coloring books
- Jewelry and watches
- Manicure sets or bath/body sets
- Digital or disposable film cameras
- Pen and pencil sets
- Craft kits
- Nerf sports items (football, soccer, etc.)
- White t-shirts for craft activties
- Hair accessories, brushes, combs
- iPods or mp3 players and accessories (such as speakers and headphones)
Gift cards
Many of our patients and families have specific needs that can be met with gift cards. Cards from the following retailers and businesses for $5 and more are especially useful.
- Discount retailers (Walmart and Target)
- Electronics stores (Best Buy)
- Family clothing stores (Kohl's)
- Grocery stores (Kroger, Food City, Publix, Ingles)
- Movie theaters (Regal, AMC)
- Restaurants (fast food and casual dining)
- Online retailers (iTunes, Amazon)
- Sporting goods stores
- Visa gift cards
Batteries
- AA batteries
- AAA batteries
- C batteries
- D batteries
Clothing
Donations of the following items are appreciated to help our patient families and emergency needs.
- New and previously worn sweatpants and t-shirts
- New socks and underwear
- We do not accept jeans, coats, dresses or shoes.
Personal hygiene items
Travel size
- Shampoo
- Conditioner
- Deodorant
- Hand cream
- Toothpaste
- Hand sanitizer
- Shaving cream
Regular size
- Toothbrushes
- Dental floss
- Combs and brushes
- Lip balm
- Disposable razors
- Child and adult fingernail clippers
- Nail files
Food for family kitchens
Each patient floor has a family kitchen or lounge. Donated food items can be provided to help families in these areas. All donations must be nonperishable, commercially prepared (we cannot accept homemade food) and packaged/sealed in single servings.
- Microwavable soup and pasta dishes
- Small packages of wrapped snacks such as pretzels, graham crackers, fruit snacks, etc.)
- Breakfast and cereal bars
- Beverages such as sodas, iced tea, water and lemonade
- Canned fruit or apple sauce (pop-top or peel-off lids only)
Items may be delivered to the Volunteer Services and Programs Department located on the first floor of Koppel Plaza on the Children's Hospital campus during regular office hours (8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday) or to the hospital's main lobby information desk when the office is closed. Please call (865) 541-8136 for any questions you may have.
Download a Printable Version of our Donation Guidelines
