CLEVELAND — A new toy is the perfect way to put a smile on a child's face, but for kids with disabilities, typical toys may not always work.

That's where an Ohio non-profit comes in. Replay for Kids and its volunteers make changes to toys so children with disabilities may enjoy them too.

"The usual example I give is the 'Tickle Me Elmo,’ said Bill Memberg, president and founder of Replay for Kids. “You have to squeeze his belly to make him laugh. Some kids with disabilities don't have the motor coordination or are paralyzed so they're not able to do that. So what we do is we show people how to go inside and attach wires to the switch that's in there and bring out a cable so then another switch can be plugged into it so that a child can use a large plate switch or a head switch whatever they're able to do they can then activate that toy.”

What started off as a hobby for Memberg after graduating with an engineering degree, has turned into a non-profit that's giving back to the community.

"I had some time available on my hands,” Memberg said. “I saw an ad from the Cuyahoga County Board of Disabilities looking for somebody to fix a box of broken toys and devices, and being an engineer and working with people with disabilities in my research, it seemed like a fun thing for me to do.”

Usually, Replay for Kids collects toys and adapts them throughout the year hosting workshops for volunteers to work on the toys. At the end of the year, families and physical therapists would go to their workshop to pick out toys suitable for each child, but because of COVID-19, the organization had to find a different way to get the toys to the kids.

"This year, it was a drive-thru event that they picked out the toys from an online database,” he said. “We boxed them up and put the box in the car as it drove through."

Lisa Lombardo is a volunteer through the Veterans Affairs Northeast Ohio Healthcare System who helps adapt toys. She usually participates in a workshop with the VA to make the adaptations, but because of COVID-19, Lombardo and other volunteers are working on the toys from home instead.

"We were able to pick up toys and the toolkits that had everything inside of it that you needed to adapt the toys and we were able to bring those home and do it at home," said Lombardo.

As a physical therapist who sometimes works with children with disabilities, Lombardo said the adapted toys often help children with their physical therapy sessions.

"I know the challenges that people with disabilities have and I wanted a way to help give back,” she said. “Especially to kids, so that they can have the opportunity to play with toys in the same way as their able bodied counterparts.”

Memberg agreed.

"There was one child with autism that we were told about that they were having a hard time getting him to do his therapy activities and there's this toy that we adapted that had twirling lights and played music and vibrated and those combinations of inputs just got him excited and he wanted to play with that toy and they got him to do the therapies he needed to do so he could play with that toy," said Memberg.

Both Memberg and Lombardo said it's rewarding to know the impact they're having on the children who receive the toys.

"It's really important for all of us to appreciate all that we have and recognize that there's individuals that can't play with toys the way that, you know, the way that our kids can and that to be able to do something like this to help those kids lead a more normal life is important and really special," said Lombardo.

More information may be found on the Replay for Kids website.