Why We Donated Thousands of Products During the Pandemic

This isn't a press release. There's no PR team behind this post. No photographer captured the moment. I almost didn't write about it at all, because the whole point was that it wasn't supposed to be about us.

But a few people found out and asked why we did it, so here's the honest answer.

What Happened

In April, right in the thick of the pandemic, we found ourselves with a large surplus of inventory. Products that had been ordered before COVID hit — kitchen tools, baby toys, organizational supplies — were sitting in our warehouse while the world figured out what was happening.

At the same time, we started seeing stories in the news about families struggling. Parents stuck at home with kids and no toys or activities. Families cooking every meal at home with limited kitchen supplies. People stressed, isolated, and in need of something — anything — to make their days a little easier.

The math was simple. We had stuff people needed. People needed stuff we had. So we gave it away.

How It Worked

We partnered with three community organizations in the Vancouver area and two in the greater Pacific Northwest. We didn't want to just dump boxes on someone's doorstep — we wanted to make sure the products got to families who would actually use them.

Over the course of three months, we donated over 4,000 products. KiddoLab toys went to families with young children. Kitchen tools went to community kitchens and food banks. Organization supplies went to shelters helping people set up temporary living spaces.

Our warehouse team handled the packing and logistics, which was no small thing given that they were already working under pandemic safety protocols. They volunteered extra hours. Nobody asked them to. They just did it.

Why We Did It

I wish I could give you some profound, strategic reason. A master plan for corporate social responsibility. A carefully calculated tax benefit.

The truth is much simpler: it felt right.

We're a small company. We're not in a position to write million-dollar checks to charities. But we had products — good products, the same ones we sell to our customers — and there were people nearby who needed them. Not doing something would have felt wrong.

There's a moment that sticks with me. One of our community partners sent us a photo of a little girl — maybe two years old — holding one of our KiddoLab musical toys. She was sitting on the floor of a shelter, wearing a onesie that was a little too big for her, and she was grinning at this toy like it was the most magical thing she'd ever seen.

I looked at that photo for a long time. And I thought: This is what products are for. Not for revenue reports or sales metrics or Amazon rankings. For this. For making someone's day a little brighter when the world feels dark.

What It Taught Us

This experience changed something inside our company. It shifted our perspective on what we do and why we do it. We'd always said our mission was to "enrich lives through quality products," but donating those products made that mission feel tangible in a way it hadn't before.

We've decided that this won't be a one-time thing. We're putting together a formal giving program — nothing flashy, just a consistent commitment to donating products and supporting communities. We're figuring out the details, but the intention is set.

We're also going to keep being quiet about it, mostly. This post is the exception, not the rule. Giving back isn't something you do for applause. You do it because it's the right thing, and because at the end of the day, a company is just a group of people — and people should help each other.

That's it. That's the whole story. No PR angle. No marketing hook. Just a small company trying to do a small amount of good in a hard time.

— Stan