Toymaker donates profits to charity

By Laura Hipshire
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

For the past 24 years, Sam Bornstein has been “breeding” ducks and penguins.

A self-proclaimed “sawdust manufacturer,” Bornstein created his first duck push-toy for his granddaughter Emily when she was just a year old. He has always enjoyed working with wood. “I was a shop teacher for four years,” he says.

Initially, most of the toys were given to his coworkers, friends, and family members. The toys were such a hit, Bornstein decided to sell them in a gift shop in Jackson. Back then, they sold for $15 apiece, but he never earned one penny from his wares—he gave all the money he earned to charities such as Children’s Hospitals and Hospice of Michigan. To date, Bornstein has donated over $11,000.

When he moved to Fox Run from Brighton, he immediately joined the hobby shop group on campus, and got to work on more pushtoys.

Labors of love
Each toy takes about an hour and a half to make. “I have homemade patterns I work from,” Bornstein says. He uses pinewood, paint, and rubber roofing scraps for the webbed feet. Besides making ducks, he also creates charming penguin push-toys.

Since some of the materials Bornstein uses to make the whimsical toys have gone up in price, and other items that used to be donated he now has to purchase, he’s had to raise the price of the toys to $20 each—still a bargain considering the handiwork involved.

“My dad was kind of a fix-it person,” Bornstein says. He really enjoys being a part of the hobby shop. “We compare projects,” he adds. “It’s a nice, friendly group.”

Last year, at the Fox Run Expo, Bornstein received 42 orders for the cute critters.“I get a lot of repeat customers,” he says. A lot of his Fox Run neighbors buy the toys for their grandchildren. “The toys are ideal for one to three-year-olds,” he says.

Today, his granddaughter Emily is 25 years old. “She still has that first pushtoy,” he says.