Your donations of new toys and supplies help the children and families of patients at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland.
Bambino Thrift Shop has been benefitting Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland since 1928. Donate or shop the discounted treasures and know you are benefitting the children who rely on Children’s Hospital Oakland for their care.
Staffed by friendly and helpful volunteers, Tues - Fri 10 AM – 3 PM, Sat - Noon – 4 PM
5290 College Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
Girl Scout Lindsay Chan pictured with backpacks she was inspired to sew for CHO wheelchair-bound patients after reviewing our "Items We Always Need" list.
She dropped all of them (51 backpacks!) off at the Pediatric Rehabilitation unit and offered her pattern to inspire others.
Go here to download Lindsay's pattern instructions.
IN-KIND DONATIONS
Your donations of toys and supplies help supplement the activities and entertainment we provide the patients of Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland. Our patients range in age from newborns to teens. We welcome items for children of all ages and especially need items for teens and babies.
Below you will find information on:
- How To Schedule Your Donation Delivery
- Items We Cannot Accept
- Items We Always Need
- Unusual Items We Need
Thank you for thinking of the patients at Children's Hospital.
Scheduling Donation Deliveries
- Contact our foundation at (510) 428-3814 to schedule your donation delivery. Our foundation accepts in-kind donations at their Downtown Oakland offices at 2201 Broadway, Suite 600. Directions to the offices can found here.
- Call us when you are nearby. We will be able to greet you in front of our building to help unload gifts from your vehicle and into our carts.
- Please place items in boxes and bags so that they can be transported easily from your vehicle to our hospital.
- Please do not gift-wrap your items.
- And please remember that all donations must be brand new, in their original packaging with the original tags on each item.
Items We Do Not Accept
We do not accept or distribute the following items:
| Food or | Candy |
| Latex Balloons |
| Books & Toys With Violent Themes |
| Used toys |
| Clothing | except brand new: | Sweatpants, T-shirts, Underwear |
Items We Always Need
(Items highlighted in BLUE are high-volume requests)
- Arts & Craft Supplies:
- Popsicle sticks, felt, foam balls, googly eyes, colored pipe cleaners, colorful feathers, glitter, glitter glue, colored pencils, children's safety scissors, colorful tissue paper, bleached muslin by the yard, ZIG permanent markers, fabric paint or dye, and origami paper.
- New White Cotton T-shirts: all sizes, for children and adults
- New Picture Frames: suitable for decorating projects or displaying children's artwork (Frames with plexi inserts only; no glass please.)
- Baby Items: plastic rattles, teething devices, wrist rattles, cloth books
- Balls: baseballs, footballs, soccer balls, gym balls all sizes
- Beading Kits
- Beanie Babies
- Bionicles
- Books: new or gently used, especially picture books
- Character Toys: such as Dora, Spiderman, Sesame Street
- Children's Books in Spanish
- Coloring Books: especially Dover brand coloring books
- Crayons & Colored Pencils
- Crib Mobiles & Crib Activity Boxes
- Crossword Puzzle Books: for both kids and parents
- Dolls: especially African-American, Asian and Hispanic dolls and Barbies
- Games: such as Monopoly, Clue, Scrabble, Battleship, Chutes and Ladders, Yahtzee, Life, chess, checkers, Boggle, Trouble, Connect Four and memory games
- Hair Supplies: combs, barrettes and scrunchies
- Hand-held Games
- Hot Wheels Toys, Small Cars & Trucks
- Infant and Toddler Toys: such as those made by Fisher-Price and Playskool, stacking rings and blocks
- Journals, Blank Books, Notebooks
- Mad Libs
- Magazines: for all ages, including magazines in Spanish
- Magic Markers and gel pens
- Mini Needlepoint Kits
- Model Car Kits
- Mylar Balloons (not inflated), Balloon Weights & Curling Ribbon: Balloons are used for birthdays and special events and should have positive kid-friendly messages for boys and girls ages 0-teens. (Get Well, Happy Birthday/Feliz Cumpleanos, Smiley Face, You're #1, You're Special, To Cheer You, etc., and characters such as Spiderman, Dora, Disney characters, butterflies, fish, are also popular.)
- Play Dough and Silly Putty
- Playing Cards: including UNO, Old Maid, Crazy Eights
- Portable CD Players: with headphone and batteries
- Puzzles
- Rattles
- Safety Scissors
- Scrapbook Supplies
- Spanish Language Books, Magazines & Games
- Stationary Sets
- Stickers
Unusual Items We Need
- Electric Toothbrushes: (Craniofacial Department)
- Gift Certificates: Safeway or Albertson’s grocery stores, or Target stores
- Knitting Yarn & Knitting Needles: all sizes (Family Resource & Information Center)
- Crochet Hooks: (Family Resource & Information Center)
- Magazine Subscriptions: People, People en Espanol, Readers Digest in Espanol, Jet, Teen People, Teen Vogue, Teen Voices, American Girl Magazine, Oprah (Family Resource & Information Center)
- Infant Socks: (Intensive Care Nursery)
- Measuring Cups:
(Endocrinology Department)
- Sweatpants, T-shirts, Underwear: all clothing items must be new and unused. (Emergency Department)
- Telephone Cards: for long-distance phone calls
- Travel-size Shampoo, Deodorant, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, & Shaving Items: for parents
Projects That Benefit The Children
Looking for an activity? Here are some ideas!
Travel Packs: Assemble comforting travel packs for parents, with travel-size shampoo, lotion, deodorant, combs, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and shaving items.
Cards: Create positive message cards for patient meal trays. Please make messages positive and general ("Thinking of you!", "Have a great day!") so they can be given to a child of any age, gender, or religion. Please do not use glitter or glitter glue, beads, googley eyes or glue-on craft items which might fall off and become ingested or become lodged in equipment.
Activity Bags: Create individual activity packets for various ages by packing re-sealable plastic bags with crayons, cards, stickers and things to do.
Booties: Knit or crochet baby booties (including preemie size).
Favors: Make tray favors or origami for patient meal trays.
Fundraisers: Organize a book or new toy drive, or hold a fundraiser.Visit our Plan a Fundraiser page for more information.
Sew: Sew a quilt or wheelchair backpack. Please use only new, not used fabric.
Again, thank you for thinking of the patients at Children's Hospital.
Our Family House also accepts in-kind donations. If you are interested in making a donation to our Family House call: (510) 428-3100
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