Adopt a Family for holiday- Request for only gift cards?

Anonymous
So we always do an adopt a family for the holidays. This year, the program put on a "no electronics" rule, as some of the parents in the program are in rocovery and evidently don't want there to be a pawning the kids gift issue.

Well the family we got has 1 young child, who asked for regular presents, but then 2 teenagers who asked for only amazon gift cards, or restaurant gift cards (think five guys/chipotle etc).
BUT the program discourages that- so the assistant who took it wrote in additional options- but really generic (perfume/make up for the girl and "football" and clothes for the boy). The program doesn't specifically discourage just getting giftcards, but it seems like it's the same (or worse) than the issue with electronics.

However- they're teenagers, and probably do want to pick out their own thing. Thoughts on if I should just do the giftcards originally described. I'm not sure how to even go about doing "perfume/makeup" or "football" for kids i've never met in person.

Anonymous
Do a football jersey of someone popular, and do Glossier makeup.
Anonymous
Do the gift cards for the teens. They’re old enough to hold onto it and use it themselves.
Anonymous
Just give the gift cards. There’s no point getting them things they don’t want or need.
Anonymous
Yeah, a drug abusing parent could sell a WFT jersey as easily as a chipotle gift card. I wouldn’t do Amazon or visa gift cards though. Teens do love fast food gift card though so they can hang with friends. The kind that are good at multiple restaurants are best since you don’t know where the teens from their school hang out—mine do subway, Panda Express, chipotle, Dunkin’ and cal tort. Eye makeup and nail polish currently very popular among almost all girls—oddly, to me. Eve my proudly geek teen daughter is super into doing fun makeup and nails.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Yeah, a drug abusing parent could sell a WFT jersey as easily as a chipotle gift card. I wouldn’t do Amazon or visa gift cards though. Teens do love fast food gift card though so they can hang with friends. The kind that are good at multiple restaurants are best since you don’t know where the teens from their school hang out—mine do subway, Panda Express, chipotle, Dunkin’ and cal tort. Eye makeup and nail polish currently very popular among almost all girls—oddly, to me. Eve my proudly geek teen daughter is super into doing fun makeup and nails.


I agree -- gift cards to restaurants, or sporting goods stores, or Sephora, or something like that.
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