Every year, millions of pounds of crayons are sent to landfills across the United States—leaving a big waxy mess that never biodegrades.

We’re not OK with that.

The Crayon Initiative takes unwanted crayons and remanufactures them into brand-new crayons designed specifically for ill and injured kids. We rely on crayon donations in order to fulfill our mission of bringing happiness through creative play to hospitalized children.

Ready to get involved? Here’s how!

Donate Your Crayons

All of our crayons are remanufactured from what we receive from restaurants, schools, groups, and individuals.

It takes about a pound of donated crayons to create five packs of The Crayon Initiative’s specially molded crayons!

There are two main ways to get your crayons to us!

Drop Off at a Staples Store

1. Collect your unwanted crayons.
2. Find a Staples Store near you.
3. Drop them off with customer service!

Ship Directly to Us

1. Get a sturdy box.
2. Prepare it for shipment.
3. Print your label and cover the cost of shipping with our nonprofit shipping rate.

Host a Crayon Drive

If you’re ready to go a step further, you can host a crayon collection drive! A crayon drive expands your reach, giving multiple people in your community a place to donate their unwanted crayons.Crayon drives also make excellent community or classroom projects! We even have merit badges.

You can get your own crayon collection boxes, and we’ve put together several comprehensive guides to get you started in your own collection drive.

Involve Local Organizations

If you want to establish an ongoing presence in your community, we encourage you to reach out to local businesses and organization, such as:

• Restaurants
• Religious institutions
• Community centers

Check out our playbooks on how you can involve your community in reducing the environmental impact of unwanted crayons!

Spread Happiness

Your crayon donation will provide pediatric patients with invaluable moments of distraction, allowing them to enter a world of their own imagination—away from the equipment, procedures, and stress of hospitalization.

Every crayon counts. With your help, we can color the lives of hospitalized children around the country.

Check out the second step in the Crayon Journey here.