Reply to Food Bank donations in lieu of gifts

Forum Index » Elementary School-Aged Kids

Reply to "Food Bank donations in lieu of gifts"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Would a poor person be sending an invite announcing how many things their child has and that they just can't endure any more?
No?
Then it's pretentious and showy, don't do it.

Can you explain why you can't donate the toys? Not getting why that's not the best option, done quietly and not "bring a toy so we can donate it!"[/quote]

Actually, yes, we did.  The first year, I was 9, my sister was 8, and my brother 5.  In about a 6 month span, a few kids we knew had houses burn down.  The local Red Cross supported them while insurance argued about whether they were going to pay, how much, whether it was arson because it was happening too often, etc.  The food bank provided food and hygiene items.  Because we talked about it at school, we all knew that the adults were doing what they could, and while we didn't know what was going on with the insurance, we knew that it was a struggle.  Nobody wanted to make the families feel worse, so nobody gave to them directly.  But several baskets of food or clothes were dropped off at the school or were left at a relative's house.  Several kids decided that they were going to say no gifts for birthday parties, and they asked for specific items (my sister requested toothpaste, my brother requested peanut butter and I requested cans of soup).  It wasn't at the adults' urging, and the kids didn't take credit for it.  Oh, and we weren't wealthy, far from it!

As an adult, if a child told me that they wanted to collect donations instead of receiving presents, I would ask why so that I could help word the invitations.  While I'm in complete agreement that kids should learn to give of themselves by watching their parents, sometimes that's not possible, and every child's urge to give should be encouraged.  If a child wanted to donate toys, I would be fine with that.  But honestly?  I would much prefer to collect necessities like diapers and food, so if a child said that's what they wanted to do, I would encourage it.

I don't understand a parent of an invited child thinking it's rude for the birthday child to express that they would prefer to collect donations.  Most kids who would think of it are already collecting donations from other sources, so their birthday party seems like a very acceptable venue to me.  Most non-profits don't want the liability that comes with allowing a minor to volunteer, so the only that they can do is collect money and/or items and distribute information.  How else should children get involved?[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics