DD breaks out in a rash with certain brands so yes I would give the brand they asked for. Not like they asked for something outragous.
Possible -- but I suspect people with allergies wouldn't have requested lotions of any type. And B&BW, being particularly known for their scents, isn't likely to be allergy-friendly.
You can also find alot of merchant GCs at grocery stores and places like CVS so you don't even need to go to that particular store to get them.
Yeah, you could go to Harris Teeter, CVS, and a couple other places 'til you
happened to find a B&BW gift card. I still say I'd bypass it, thinking it's too specific, thinking I'd have to make a special trip to get that card.
Another issue with gift cards and teens is that they are almost certain to have to put in some of their own money to complete the transaction. Think about it: Say you give a $20 gift card. The child chooses a couple items, and it adds up to $22.50. She has to have $2.50 of her own money . . . on the same day that she happened to have a ride to the mall. Having been a poor kid, I can tell you that those planets didn't align for me all that often. When I was a teen I usually had less than a dollar to my name, and I couldn't ask my mom for a couple bucks -- that never, ever happened.
Well, that or she'd have to put one item back, which'd mean she'd still have $3 left on her gift card, and it might be months 'til she'd get a chance to use it.
I remain unimpressed with gift cards as gifts for needy teens. I still maintain I would've chosen a different angel and avoided the situation.
The recieving families are referred(by school system....usually administration, conselors, social workers, teachers and free lunch programs are used to determine need) to our county Christmas Cheer program where they are interviewed and screened independantly from school. The head of household is asked to fill out many forms including general request forms listing gender, sizes, special colors and any special requests. There is also a section to list "wishes" and explain what they do have....ex - have xbox but need new controller and games, wish for a new bike, wish for a bedding set. etc
Once approved by county, our school conselors go back to the organization and pick a few families (as many as they know they can comfortable give to). This year we were able to do 6 families....mostly Grandmothers raising grandchildren. A total of 14 adults and almost 30 children will have some sort of Christmas thanks to the generosity of our teachers, students and fellow families along with a lot of volunteering from the PTO.
My DD(9) came home after an assembly. There the students were told about the "ormanents on the wishing tree" and how it is for families right here at our own school. She was really impressed with the whole idea.
The families are contacted by the donors (in these cases our school concelors). The conselor calls the family and asks for general sizing and anything specific wants or needs with no promises made. One of our larger families specifically asked for socks, underwear and shoes for all children. Toys would be secondary. Shoes are hard to do for teens so gift cards are available. Another family who recently hit hard times (being sponsors in the past and now having to except help is a huge wake up) had more requests for toys, electronics and sports stuff. Its is hard if their kids were used to cell phones, kindles, iTouches, etc.....then when the iPods break and family cannot get a new one. Yeah kids are old enough to understand but at the same time its not their fault. The school was working with a special company who often donates larger items.
A Christmas tree is put in the office with "ornaments" listing age, gender, gift request. Like: 2yr old, boy, dump truck.......16 yr old girl, Old Navy Giftcard......6 yr old girl, shoe size 13, suede boots.
Teachers and families pick an ornament or two. (DH & I have a tradition since our first Christmas that instead of purchasing for each other, we pick 2 angels to buy for....depending on our budget).
Gifts and tags are due back at a certain date, groceries are purchased with funds raised at holiday concerts etc.
This is where the PTO comes in and is extremely helpful. I was able to volunteer 2 days this year. Gifts are sorted into family units (all family info is confidential from us....family is assigned a number - like 20 then A1 for first adult, A2 for second adult, children are C1, C2, C3 & C4 etc. Codes that only the conselors are privy to. In this particular case we were matching up the lists of requests/info on ornaments with the pile of gifts. When I had the gift of gloss/soaps in my hand and was matching it with family number another PTO member commented on the washes ,mentioning that her DD bought it at Five Below (new store opened in November) for her BFF. The conselor in charge was working on same family and saw that B&B Works was requested and wished that people would follow the intructions because that family could easily have gotten same thing at Five Below or Dollar General but shopping at B&B Works was probably not going to happen. She did not mean it in any condesending way, she is clear that she is always grateful for the support our school shows for each other.
So, long story....longer....I just wanted the thoughts of others here about the situation.....not that there is any wrong answers.
BTW, the child will recieve the gloss/washes that were donated.
Thnaks for all the input.
That's how your one organization handles angel trees. These trees are all over the place now, and different organizations handle them differently. For example, at our church the pastor himself "okays" families, and he keeps their identity secret, telling the donors only perhaps, "The family has two boys ages 8 and 10, they wear these sizes and are interested in these items." At our school, a club offered an angel tree. They got the names from an Hispanic organization in town, and I don't know how those names were screened. My oldest took part in a service project at another church, and the people whom they helped were referred through the Health Department. I know of another church -- a rather wealthy church -- that sponsors a senior citizens' angel tree; I think their pastor comes up with the names himself, but it's more about helping people
who are lonely than about people who have no money -- they emphasize that they'd like people to include these seniors in their family gatherings, give them a small something rather than take on the gift-giving tasks. I've seen people at the mall with an angel tree, and I have no idea how they get their names.
If you have questions about a certain charity's screening process, it's okay to ask how they get the names . . . and if you're not comfortable with the way they manage things, it's okay to move on to another group. Personally, we tend to donate through our church; we support the Baptist Sharing House because we trust that our pastoral staff has identified groups that are doing the most good in our area. I trust that they're being good stewards of our donations.
My daughter picked an angel off of the tree at school. The angel asked for a "dessert maker" so she could make desserts for her family. I asked here on the DIS if this was a specific item or a general request. And apparently there is a dessert maker that makes ice cream type treats. However, DISers said that this item was terrible. So I read reviews on
Amazon and every single one was bad. So I ended up purchasing a cake pop type cooker that had removable metal plates where you could make cupcakes, cookies, brownies and cake pops. I thought it was a good substitution and it was considerably more expensive than the original requested item. Now I feel the child might be disappointed because I didn't buy the requested item.
I think that sounds fine. If you said "ice cream maker", I'd think of ice cream treats . . . but if you said "dessert maker", I'd think of one of those countertop appliances that makes miniature cupcakes or brownies. I don't know if that's what the child would've thought, but it's where my mind goes.
I'd have chosen that angel because it sounds like an easy wish to fulfill -- it gives plenty of lattitude for choosing the item that's on sale, and it means I could pick it up at Target or
Walmart or I could order it from Amazon. It's not overly specific, doesn't mean I must visit one specific store. I'd also have packaged it up in a pretty gift basket with a variety of cake/brownie mixes, icings, sprinkles and chocolate chips, a spatula, and a big bow. Oh, and some cute small plates for serving the desserts.
Just for the record, for various reasons, I don't always get my own children
exactly the item they've requested. To give an example, my girls both expressed an interest in having an iPad for Christmas. That's not happening, and to avoid unrealistic expectations I told them that iPads just aren't in the budget. My oldest, however, is getting a laptop for college (and half a dozen accessories to go with it). It cost more than the iPad would've, but it's what she really needs -- I don't expect her to be disappointed. My youngest is getting absolutely nothing electronic, but I think she'll be pleased with the things she's getting.
His Mother is prurposely buying his wife small clothes to embaress her
Yeah, that sounds like the most likely reason. I'd be interested to know if Mom is passive-aggressive in other ways. If so, I'd be sure of her too-small-size motivation.
), I was wearing whatever Wal-Mart or K-Mart had on sale at the time. I won a $25 gift certificate at school one day (for an essay I did). It was for a store in the mall, and I was thrilled beyond belief when I got to go in there and pick out something. The experience was something my friends took for granted, but for me the experience was just as good as what I bought, which was a hideous art deco type sweater (yes it was the late 80's early 90's 
). I would have gotten the child the gift card, maybe this feeling is what she wanted, more than just the bath stuff it'self.
(btw, she is now cancer free, and actually wears about a size 6.....i wonder if he'll buy all size 2's this year
).
