I'm big on toy drives. Maybe it's because I work in advertising and am especially sensitive to how often kids see messages about toys and gifts and Santa. What about kids whose parents can't afford to come through with toys? Do they feel angry, disappointed, less loved? It makes me crazy. Christmas is supposed to have a little magic to it, especially for children.
So this weekend I made a little of my own magic. I dropped a plush black bear (purchased by my mom for this specific purpose) into the Toys for Tots bin and donated a book to The Today Show Toy Drive via Amazon.com.
I hope you'll do something similar. During the Recession, as consumers tighten our belts, charities have to do more with less and can use as much help as we can spare.
our church will donate to a local women shelter. so i will donate to them and one other organization. maybe childrens hospital.
ReplyDeleteevery little bit helps!
At our office we decided to adopt families instead of exchanging presents. I am coordinating it and we have adopted THREE families! It makes me so happy to see everyone bring their presents in so I can put them in big piles for the families.
ReplyDeleteThe passive-aggressive chick who sits across from me thanked me because (she said) every year it was talked about but no one ever did anything. (I thought ... "and you didn't do it because ....??" but tucked that pissy thought away and reveled in presents that weren't for me. heh)
I'm doing my shopping for the family last so I can even out anything that might have been missed or overlooked.
Thanks for mentioning this on your blog, chickie!
Book Girl and I took advantage of a great sale (plus a rebate from Hasbro) at Toys R Us a couple of weeks ago. We bought seven games like Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Ants in the Pants, etc. and donated them to Toys for Tots, right in the store. After the rebate, our total cost will have been about $7.
ReplyDeleteIt felt great to be able to donate a nice stack of good toys even when we're on a tight budget ourselves.