Tree's for "needy" kids

[vanyel]

One of the organizations on the campus where I work is doing a toy drive for ages 2-6. I'm going shopping this afternoon for some toys to donate and there's no specification on what to give. For me, this is much easier as I can look for what I can afford and what's available.

I loved the idea of the senior tree at Walgreen's and I'm going to look at our local store to see if they have one too.

We have a fairly small Christmas by choice and I don't tend to buy large gifts at Christmas anyway so I wouldn't be comfortable buying an expensive electronic item from an angel tree but if someone can or wants to, I guess it's an individual choice.

 

[barkley]

our little town's toy drive just got AWSOME news. a statewide disney collectors group picked them as their 'designated' recipient this year. the group is donating a huge amount of disney themed clothing, toys, videos and such. apparantly since walt disney was instrumental in the initial formation of toys for tots the group honors him by yearly selecting a few cities within the state to benefit from both physical contributions of items as well as funds they've raised through events and memorabilia auctions

i just read a little write up in the paper, and i found it interesting that the holiday program here is set up such that the recipient families get 'food baskets' with enuf to last 3 weeks. the thought is that most of the kids who are recipients also participate in the free breakfast and lunch programs at the schools, and them being at home and eating all their meals for the 3 week holiday break can realy make it tough on families.

 

[mickeyfan2]

our little town's toy drive just got AWSOME news. a statewide disney collectors group picked them as their 'designated' recipient this year. the group is donating a huge amount of disney themed clothing, toys, videos and such. apparantly since walt disney was instrumental in the initial formation of toys for tots the group honors him by yearly selecting a few cities within the state to benefit from both physical contributions of items as well as funds they've raised through events and memorabilia auctions

Wow this is great.

i just read a little write up in the paper, and i found it interesting that the holiday program here is set up such that the recipient families get 'food baskets' with enuf to last 3 weeks. the thought is that most of the kids who are recipients also participate in the free breakfast and lunch programs at the schools, and them being at home and eating all their meals for the 3 week holiday break can realy make it tough on families.

This is so true, but something that I would not think about. Thank for pointing this out.

 

[ZPT1022]

The local Motorcycle group took on the task of buying for teen-age boys this year, and did an incredible job! For some reason, they had a pretty good idea of what would be enjoyed! When I was case-working, we almost always had to do the buying for young men. Everyone want to buy for kids, and for girls.

They are overgrown boys themselves Not being rude but my Uncle is part of a motorcycle group and they love doing stuff like this. This is the uncle that always has the coolest toys first, still does, and we are all grown up now. I think overall that people who join motorcycle clubs or groups get a bad rap but a lot of them are VERY nice people- organizing fundraisers and blood drives and toy drives and other very worthy causes. I know my Uncle looks the part- tattoos and eyebrow and ear piercing but if you ever needed anything he'd be the first one to help.

 

[noodleknitter]

They are overgrown boys themselves Not being rude but my Uncle is part of a motorcycle group and they love doing stuff like this. This is the uncle that always has the coolest toys first, still does, and we are all grown up now. I think overall that people who join motorcycle clubs or groups get a bad rap but a lot of them are VERY nice people- organizing fundraisers and blood drives and toy drives and other very worthy causes. I know my Uncle looks the part- tattoos and eyebrow and ear piercing but if you ever needed anything he'd be the first one to help.

Absolutely! I love these guys! We use to call on them for charities all of the time, and that was before so many were riding! And they are always willing to take a shot at whatever hairbrained...or great idea we came up with!

 

[mickeysaver]

I was raised to do for others, especially at the holidays. It was payback. For many years, I didn't know that if it had not been for a man that I knew as "Papa Nolan" that we would have lost our house and I certainly would not have had Christmas one year when my dad's company was on strike. But, I knew that every year after that hard year, that we donated my gently used toys to the firefighters, who refurbished those toys and gave them to the needy kids. As I grew older, we started working the "angel trees". I enjoyed that quite a bit.

Over the past few years, I have found families that were in need that I met through my work in a pediatric medical office. This year, I found Wild Santa. Wild Santa supports the Toys for Tots organization. We spent quite a good bit of money on the charity. The kids only get two toys and a stocking stuffer through the TFT, but I think that every kid deserves more than that. We have plans to continue supporting Wild Santa next year too.

Well, we thought we were done. Gabby's mom's personal assistant/maid/health care assistant is a lovely woman named Cal. Cal's daughter and her family live in GA....not that far away from us, but quite far away from Ms. Cal, who lives in FL. The family has had a ROUGH year. The dad, Rod, had worked in a hospital assisting in surgeries, but became ill earlier this year. The illness has wrecked his nervous system. He lost his job and can no longer drive himself. Precia, Cal's daughter, was working as a CNA in a wound care specialist office, but she lost her job last Monday because they got tired of her missing work because she has to take her husband to the doctor so often. They lost their home 2 months ago. All 4 of them live in the basement of a friend from church's home. There are two girls, 14 and 5. The 14 year old is a genius, literally, she has a full ride scholarship already to Duke University when she gets through with high school. The 5 year old is very tall for her age, she looks 10, but talks like she is 40. lol This family was looking at no Christmas what-so-ever. When Pati told us Gabby about the situation, we both agreed that we wanted to and needed to pitch in!

So, in a whirlwind of shopping, we took to the mall and three Walmarts between 8pm and 6am Friday night/Saturday morning. We slept 4 hours and got up to start wrapping. We finished wrapping at 3pm, which was just in time for us to be able to get showers and be able to meet with them to give them their gifts. I think we spoiled them well. The mom asked only for a coat. The dad wanted a Trac phone and some minutes. The kids asked for nothing other than clothes. We did more than clothes. Each child has a good Christmas wrapped and ready for opening on Monday! I never knew so much about Dora the Explorer and the Password Journal before in my life, but we got the goodies. I am glad to know that we helped not only save Christmas, but we also saved a bit of hope for these people. Cal said that the family as a whole was so excited that they had a hard time going to sleep Saturday night.

One side note: I have to give thanks to my local Disney Store. When they found out who all the clothes and toys were for, they gave me an additional 15% discount! I love my TDS!

Happy holidays to all! I encourage everyone with kids to foster a sense of need for giving to the less fortunate this time of year. You never know when it could be you that might be on the receiving end. Cal's daughter's family is proof that one little setback can take it all away. 10 months of illness took them from solid upper middle class to homeless and bankrupt......it's a tough reality. Maggie

 

[staley7580]

When I worked at Best Buy, we had a portable cd player for $10. These 2 women came in that worked at a low income childrens center, and when they saw these cd layers they went nuts! It was about a month away from Christmas, and they bought every single one we had in stock. They spent about $300, and they were sooooo excited!

 

[lindalinda]

Just adding my 2 cents. I have adopted from the "angel tree" for many years. I seem to do the opposite that most posters here have . I always choose a teenager. I figure the little kids always get picked first and I know its really hard not to have the right "stuff" in middle school esp. Its so hard to be a teenager now! Thats not to say I spend tons of money or anything, but I try to get whats on the list. Here they have the listed sizes of clothes and shoes and one toy item (or extra). The people who work there have ALWAYS made it clear to me when I pick one that I dont have to get all the items listed. I dont think they expect to receive everything they list....its a wish list thats all.

 

[Beca]

I have always done the Angel Tree and loved doing it. This year I took my dd to a tree that had hundreds of tags on it. I only saw 3 items on the tags..."electronic game system", "Ipod", or "Restaurant Gift Certificate".

Needless to say, we did NOT pick a gift to buy....those items seemed too strange to me.