Reply to Paying for fieldtrips for children in need in MCPS

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Reply to "Paying for fieldtrips for children in need in MCPS"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Don't do this.

Really, it just leads to more increased dependance amongst the parents. It's $8 and the family can come up with the money. The family has to make a choice - buy one less convenience item that week vs. send their kid on the field trip.

It's not sweet, or cute, or helpful. It's the opposite. It creates a constant stream of dependance.

[/quote]

Except, this would have been my father's family in Washington, DC over 50 years ago.  My dad essentially emancipated himself from his parents at age twelve when he clearly understood that his parents would provide shelter, some food and little else.  Spending money, extra clothes, new shoes, additional food - he had to go without or provide for himself and did both.
 
OP, thank you for paying it forward.  I also send in "extras" of anything that the students are asked to "bring from home" - shoeboxes, Valentine cards, random household items to be repurposed for crafts, etc.  I think of my dad and how heartbreaking his stories were of missing out on school functions because he either didn't have the right clothes or didn't want to show up with newspapers stuffed in his shoes, for instance.

Sometimes the parents are skating on the edge of poverty, live paycheck to irregular paycheck, have mental and or addiction issues and $8.00 when you make $100 a day cleaning houses and you can't afford to repair your car and the rent's due and you had to take a day off work to car for a sick kid...it's overwhelming.  PP, you need to have some empathy, a crash course in socioeconomics and perhaps a day spent volunteering in a local food pantry.  [/quote]

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