It’s been a long standing
TV sitcom plot. A child accidently sets their beloved toy on the ground, and
another person unwittingly places it in the giveaway pile. The toy gets donated
and the whole cast is sent into a frenzy as they try to get the toy back before
the end of the 30-minute sitcom. Unfortunately, for the Dingo family this exact
TV sitcom plot became a reality.
Three-year-old, Sally Dingo, placed her beloved stuffed elephant on the ground
near the toy giveaway pile. Sally was then called into the house for a snack.
While in the house eating the snack, her 15-year-old brother, Todd, picked up
the toy pile and drove it to the nearest thrift store.
“Mom just told me to take the toy pile to the thrift store so she could have
extra room in the yard”, Todd Dingo said. “I didn’t even think about checking
to see if Sally’s Ella was in there.”
Sally immediately noticed her missing toy when she ran outside after her snack,
but by then it was already on its way to One Man’s Trash Thrift Store. The toy
pile was donated to One Man’s Trash Thrift Store but One Man’s Trash doesn’t
sell toys. They donated the pile to A Basket of Gold Thrift Store, where the
toys were washed and sorted for placement in the store. Sally’s elephant went
through a disinfecting process, wash cycle, and was tagged for sale, where it
sat on the shelf.
“My daughter was so upset, and we started the search for Ella immediately. We
looked everywhere in her tree house, in the house, in the storage shed, but she
wasn’t anywhere”, said Sally’s mom, Tina. “It wasn’t until I really thought
about it that I realized Todd must have taken it to the thrift store, and I
knew we were in big trouble.”
Tina immediately started calling around to local thrift stores asking
if they had received a recent donation of toys, but got no leads. The elephant
was considered a lost cause, until Tina walked by A Basket of Gold Thrift Store
and saw Ella sitting there.
“I don’t know what possessed me to drive to that part of town because I never
go over there, but I did to pick up some special ingredients for my soup. And
that’s when I saw Ella sitting on the shelf,” said Tina Dingo. “I probably
looked crazy because I was screaming, ‘Ella it’s you I can’t believe it’.
People probably thought I was nuts.”
After two weeks apart, Ella and Sally were reunited. They have since visited
the local library, went shopping for new clothes for Ella, and hosted several
tea parties together.
“Ella home now”, Sally said over a cup of tea. “She not going to leave me ever
again.”
