A Giving Time of Year

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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I am exhausted. In case you care. I left work today between 2:30 and 3 and went to volunteer at the Rudolph Roundup (toy drive.) They had this long table set up with toys all over it, and under it, and against the wall, sorted by age, type of toy, etc. And they’d hand you a “list” that had 3 things on it the kid wanted, along with age, race, sex. You take a huge trash bag and get as many of the things on their list as you could and make up the rest (6-7 items total) from other age/sex appropriate things.

I don’t know how many I did, but I had a BUNCH of teenage boy ones, and those are hard. You can’t just give them anything and make them happy like you can with a 4-12 year old kid, or give them makeup kits and stuff like you can the girls. Some wanted cologne, or shaving gear, in addition to basketballs and footballs (which thankfully, there were lots of balls, and a few skateboards.) And babies. Those are hard, because almost all of the gifts were marked 3+ because of choking hazards.

So when I left there, I went to the Dollar General store and got a bunch of baby toys, and cologne for boys. Then I went next door to Walgreens and found cologne there, and men’s manicure sets, and some little toolkits that had pliers, wire cutters, screw drivers, etc. because it’s really cool when you’re a boy of say, 12-15 to have your own tools for fixing things. I ran into a friend of my husband’s there and told him what I was doing and he gave me $20 to help! He’s a sweetheart.

Anyway, I’m not going to volunteer tomorrow, but I am going to drop off the stuff I bought. And I may hit Dollar Tree tomorrow for a few more things.

Oh, and most of these kids are in foster care. Not so much poverty cases, I guess, as probably abuse/neglect/parents-in-jail kind of kids. :frowning: It hurts my heart.

So, folks, if you can, and there’s a toy-drive or adopt-a-family near you, if you can donate money or toys, that’s wonderful, and if you can’t, maybe you can donate time. And if you can’t do that, at least spare a thought or prayer for those who have even less than you right now.

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TroubleAgain, thanks for doing this. I never thought about what would go into doing something like that and your description makes my heart hurt too. Now you’ve inspired me to want to try it. I think it would make Xmas complete. Way to spread the word and magic of the real giving behind the season.

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Thanks for what you’re doing! We always sponsor a kid through the salvation army. Whoa! Our little guy this year wanted spiderman toys. I only wish we could see his face when he gets his web-slinger, action figures, and costume. Last year we got a kid a bike. We’ve also sent lots to animal rescue. You are to be so admired for spending the time to work on this. It’s a whole lot easier to order stuff from amazon. Thanks, and blessed be!:slight_smile:

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faithfool, it’s such an awesome feeling to be able to help a kid! (And hey, I don’t even like the little people-larvae that much.):wink: Whatever you can do to help will be appreciated!

hellpasso, that’s wonderful! We’ve chosen children off an “angel tree” before, but this is the first time I’ve ever donated my time, and it’s a good feeling.

In other news, my boss has teenage sons, and when I told her about last night, she said she was going to Wal-Mart at lunch and would get some more teen-boy stuff, and another co-worker gave me $10 to put toward more gifts! I love people, sometimes! (It makes up for the other times when I can’t stand people at all.;))