A group of students in the environmental club at Pascack Valley High School spent the day cleaning used toys that will be donated to children in need.

The toys were collected by the New Jersey-based nonprofit group Second Chance Toys.  The group collects used toys that would have otherwise been thrown out and donates them.

“My daughter and I were driving around in Mountainside New Jersey on a large trash day. And we happened to see all these lovely, beautiful plastic toys in the piles that were out at the curb. And we decided to rescue them,” says founder Bonna Lipton.

The Pascack Valley students cleaned the toys as a way of raising awareness of the impact discarded plastic has on the environment.

“If we didn't allow children to reuse these, they'd probably end up in a landfill, which would hurt our environment significantly,” says student Cassidy Smith.

The students also say that donating used toys is just the right thing to do, especially around the holiday season.

"It's really nice to be able to take things that maybe we're not using anymore and don't need anymore and give them to somebody else who can use them and get enjoyment out of them,” says Eric Mathai.

Second Chance Toys has donated around 300,000 toys since it was founded in 2006.