What do you spend on Angel Tree/Adopt a Family gifts? How do you decide what to buy?

[Deffenm]

I just organized gifts for 55 kids through an Adopt A Family program we support where I work. The organization we support provides me with their sizes (clothes, shoes, coat) and then a few wish list items. They ask we spend $100 per kid. We always provide at least one outfit, pair of shoes or winter boots, Winter Coat and then 2 to 3 toys per child. Most of the wish list items we receive are board games, barbies, hot wheels, coloring books/crayons, play dough, basketball/football/soccerball, jewelry/craft kids, legos, and baby dolls.

 

[rndmr2]

I picked ornaments from the tree in our local grocery store like a PP mentioned. I picked a 2nd grade girl and a senior lady. I think they are sponsored by the Lion's club. There were suggestions on the card, I think I spent about $30 each.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I do it through church. Actually I'm the outreach coordinator, so I do all the family-finding, planning, making the tags, delivering, etc. So - I got to choose mine first . I was specific when making the tags so it would be even/fair amongst siblings (we're sponsoring 4 families), and I chose a couple of stocking stuffer toys, an outfit for an 8 year old boy (spent about $35), an outfit for a baby girl (spent about $25), and put together a play school kit for a family that just has two little girls, 5 and 6. I included a lined dry erase board, dry erase markers, sight word cards, two workbooks, star stickers, sticker charts, some cut sentence strips, and some math manipulatives).

 

[Liberty Belle]

At our YMCA they had senior adults on the giving tree this year. I picked someone to do in memory of DH's parents. You see a lot of kids but rarely seniors. I was happy to do this. There was no recommended amount. Just a wish list. I got everything on the list.

That's an excellent idea! I think I'll look into that for next year.

 

[AJ1983]

Can I further add that I LOVE doing this and its my favourite part of Christmas?

 

[MissVeronica]

We adopt a child through DH's work. They suggest spending $40, but every single year we end up with a kid who wants a bike. Try doing that and clothes for $40. We got him a bike, cars toys, shirt, shoes, pants and then ninja turtle pajamas. I hit the sales so we spent about $150 total, which is about what we spend every year. Pajamas weren't on the list, but he is 5 and we have a 5 year old so I figured he'd really like them.

I also buy toys on sale throughout the year and donate them and food to a local ministry, but not for a certain child. This year I had rewards saved up with Walgreens so DS5 got to pick out a bunch of toys he thought they kids might like.

 

[Fire14]

At our YMCA they had senior adults on the giving tree this year. I picked someone to do in memory of DH's parents. You see a lot of kids but rarely seniors. I was happy to do this. There was no recommended amount. Just a wish list. I got everything on the list.

I've always done lil tykes since I was a teen and doing this with my mom. Last couple years I've done a Senior Adult from nursing home, I work with seniors and get such joy from seeing them with their new gifts. This year I got to choose a Resident from Nursing home I work at so I am going to have lots of fun, The suggestions were perfume and a wallet. I can handle that . I also tossed around idea of buying some pet stuff and donating to animal shelter since I'm a sucker for fur.

 

[nene0182]

At our YMCA they had senior adults on the giving tree this year. I picked someone to do in memory of DH's parents. You see a lot of kids but rarely seniors. I was happy to do this. There was no recommended amount. Just a wish list. I got everything on the list.

About 6 years ago, the company I work for started a senior giving tree for one of our local nursing homes. It was a big success and we all loved doing it with most of us adopting a grandma and a grandpa. Unfortunately our company closed this location 3 years ago, but we have still been able to carry on the tradition and collect enough gifts and donations to sponsor a "neighborhood" at the home. It's so heartwarming to spend the time with them and to see how much they appreciate it.

 

[arminnie]

I don't spend $100 on anyone - including my husband. Not going to happen for a donation.

 

[TanyaS]

It is interesting how varied the suggested amounts to spend are!

The organizations we have donated through do not have any suggested amounts. I was always curious how different the donations ended up.

I am comfortable with the amount I am spending, but I always worry about what to buy. For example, this year we choose a 16 year old boy who likes anime, reading and plays the flute. He specifically requested steel toe boots and some items of clothing, along with materials to learn Japanese, which I purchased. But I wouldn't have any idea of a gift that I would feel comfortable buying based on some of his general likes, such as the anime (which movies does he like? which does he already have? etc.)

I will probably add in a gift card, but again, I worry - do I give a Walmart gift card and hope he can get a ride to the store? Or an Amazon gift card and assume he can order something online?

Do I spend money on gifts I think are fun? Or just add to a gift card? Get lots of little things? Or fewer more expensive items?

He'll be getting Christmas gifts purchased with good intentions, for certain, but I hope we also gift him with items he will use or enjoy!!! It was so much less stressful the years I chose small children instead of a teenager! Having two of my own doesn't help any.

 

[Katy Belle]

DHs work has a tree with tags for Foster kids. I think there were 10 kids this year. Each kid has 4 tags and each tag has several items listed on it. We took all 4 tags for a 12 year old boy. It ended up being a lot of things and a lot of $, but we are happy to do it. Pair of jeans, Star Wars shirt, dressier shirt, hoodie, pjs, socks, undies, sneakers, winter coat, hat, and gloves, oh and a Star Wars belt. Skateboard, helmet, pads, R2D2 pillow, two sets of Star Wars action figures with vehicles, a light saber, and a joke book. Then 2 days before they were due to be turned in, DH called and asked if I could buy more. Not all the tags had been picked up. So he brought home 3 more tags. 3 year old girl..we got her a baby doll with clothes and a stroller, a Disney pizza and birthday cake wooden play set, and 3 books. A 10 month old girl...Minnie Mouse plush doll, ball with rattle and bells, tummy time mirror, (requested specifically), stacking blocks, 3 books, hair bows and headbands, and sippy cups.
I love doing it.

 

[Jeafl]

So there I was at Starbucks, and I saw a small angel tree in the corner. What I saw on there was horrifying! One person wanted dish liquid, another wanted a dish towel, and then I saw the woman who wanted a warm shirt for her daughter in size 2T. It was totally heartbreaking. I ended up grabbing about 12 tags with my daughters and we went and bought all of it and more. I have never seen a tree with such modest requests. One senior citizen even wanted a jar of instant coffee. I cannot imagine anything sadder.

The ironic thing is that we were there about an hour and never saw anyone else approach the tree. I hope that someone eventually picked up some more tags. I wish I could have done more, but. I also donate a lot of money to the needy families at our school, and with 2 kids in college you can only do so much.

 

[Fire14]

So there I was at Starbucks, and I saw a small angel tree in the corner. What I saw on there was horrifying! One person wanted dish liquid, another wanted a dish towel, and then I saw the woman who wanted a warm shirt for her daughter in size 2T. It was totally heartbreaking. I ended up grabbing about 12 tags with my daughters and we went and bought all of it and more. I have never seen a tree with such modest requests. One senior citizen even wanted a jar of instant coffee. I cannot imagine anything sadder.

The ironic thing is that we were there about an hour and never saw anyone else approach the tree. I hope that someone eventually picked up some more tags. I wish I could have done more, but. I also donate a lot of money to the needy families at our school, and with 2 kids in college you can only do so much.

Thank you for what you did do. I will admit Starbucks is not a place I'd expect an angel tree to be but hey if you can afford starbucks I'm sure dish liquid wouldn't hurt to much.

 

[tvguy]

I pick a teenage boy but I sure as heck am not spending $300. Granted, I have access to brand new winter clothes for low prices because I shop for them year 'round and not just in winter time but $300...man!

I usually buy him a watch - unless there's a gift suggestion attached (which there often is but sometimes it's totally anonymous "15yr boy"). Having worked in a school, I will not buy brand name.

Warm fuzzy story, many years back, my work sponsored a family. One of the ladies made the children winter scarf/hat sets. The boy got 3 tone blue, the girl got rainbow. The following year, I was on the bus and two kids got on the bus, the boy in the blue and the girl in the rainbow. Considering the area I was in (and maybe a bit of a story I told myself) those HAD to be our kids!

Some very generous people for sure. Our cap for our family gifts is $250 a person, so $300 would be above my limit. I picked 4 tags off the Angel Tree and spent $50 total.

 

[scrapquitler]

If you buy gifts for someone from an Angel Tree or a charitable Adopt a Family program, how do you select what to buy?

What sort of budget do you have for these gifts? How do you select which recipient to buy for?

Curious how everyone makes decisions in these matters.

Our local giving tree usually puts 2 tags per child: a warm clothing item (usually it is warm pjs, hoodie, or hat/gloves/scarf) and a toy/interest item (and most of them are very modest wishes: a doll, lego, CD, makeup, books, etc. I like it because it's not an outrageous kind of wish list like I've seen other places.

Most years, I pick two clothing item tags (a boy and a girl) and two toy/interest item tags (also a boy and a girl).

I generally spend $15-$25 on each of the tags. This year I bought a boys hoodie (about $20), a girls hat/mittens/scarf set (about $20), a Pink Floyd Greatest Hits CD, (the request was Pink Floyd or Led Zepplin), that was about $15, and a 'baby doll' for a 3 year old girl, I got her a Melissa and Doug one, I think that was $25. I usually try to pick toy tags that have a specific request. The one that said 'any lego' and 'anything Frozen' I passed by, because I didn't want to agonize in the toy aisle. If I see one that requests craft supplies, I usually choose that one.

 

[ronandannette]

I don't spend $100 on anyone - including my husband. Not going to happen for a donation.

We always spend more on donations than we do on gifts for each other; lots of years we don't get each other anything. Trying to find something for somebody who already has everything is waaaay harder (and less fun) than buying for needy recipients that most likely will love anything they get.

 

[scrhsa]

Our tree at church has specifics. Age and item they need. Usually clothing. I did pick one this year that had a family of 4 that needed shampoo, soap, toothpaste etc. We are asked to stick to what is on the card and to add nothing else. I didn't understand that at first but it was explained that since the cards are for individuals and not whole families one person might get extra while another wont. Unfortunately, my husband was laid off just days after I picked up our 3 cards I had to pare down the spending this year.

 

[ronandannette]

Our tree at church has specifics. Age and item they need. Usually clothing. I did pick one this year that had a family of 4 that needed shampoo, soap, toothpaste etc. We are asked to stick to what is on the card and to add nothing else. I didn't understand that at first but it was explained that since the cards are for individuals and not whole families one person might get extra while another wont. Unfortunately, my husband was laid off just days after I picked up our 3 cards I had to pare down the spending this year.

Tough at Christmas but I feel you - our local economy is in free-fall due to oil prices and it's happening every day here. Trust God, hang in there .

 

[Mkrop]

For some reason I stopped doing the Adopt a Kid program and now stick with our Giving Tree at church, which has items for kids, for seniors, homeless shelters etc. I went with disposable razors for the homeless shelter. I also donated to DS18's school program, they switched from asking for specific kids to more general stuff. This year he got 1 yr old girls and they suggested rattles, teethers and small bath toys. Each homeroom got a different age/gender. They said they were going to set up a shopping store for the parents at this church so they could shop and pick out exactly what their kids could use. We also did ton of food donations.

 

[SC Minnie]

For some reason I stopped doing the Adopt a Kid program and now stick with our Giving Tree at church, which has items for kids, for seniors, homeless shelters etc. I went with disposable razors for the homeless shelter. I also donated to DS18's school program, they switched from asking for specific kids to more general stuff. This year he got 1 yr old girls and they suggested rattles, teethers and small bath toys. Each homeroom got a different age/gender. They said they were going to set up a shopping store for the parents at this church so they could shop and pick out exactly what their kids could use. We also did ton of food donations.

We have a giving tree at the office. We go through 5 local organizations ranging from women's shelter to the adult daycare to local no kill animal shelter. The tags have specific items not a person with a list of things.