Who: Superintendent of the Division of Industrial Compliance (DIC) David Williamson and employees of DIC, the State Fire Marshal’s office and the Division of Liquor Control.

What: Photo opportunity in conjunction with toy repair.

Where: Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Industrial Compliance, 6606 Tussing Road, Reynoldsburg

When: Thursday, December 6, 2001, 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

Notes: Each year, hundreds of stuffed animals are cut open at an Ohio Department of Commerce laboratory, sacrificed for the safety of Ohio consumers. But, thanks to an innovative holiday program, these toys are being rescued so that they can be given to needy children. Commerce’s Bedding and Upholstered Furniture section inspects filler material inside representative samples of stuffed toys sold statewide, to ensure the toys are safe and accurately labeled. The toys are sent by the manufacturers to the state laboratory in Cambridge, where they are cut open by lab technicians. The technicians perform chemical and micro-scopic tests on hundreds of different types of fillers used in toys produced by manufacturers from around the world.

Instead of being disposed of, the toys are set aside until the holiday season, when they are "rescued" by state employees.

  EMPLOYEES WILL BE DONATING THEIR LUNCH HOUR AT THIS EVENT TO REPAIR THE STUFFED TOYS.