My school is having a deal where we are getting together in groups to buy gifts for a needy family’s Christmas. The families provide us with a wishlist, and I have been assigned to get the mom a giftcard for a grocery store.
Now, we don’t know exactly where the family lives, other than that they’re in the area (SE Michigan), but we’d decided that we should get a card for something that’s accessible in Detroit, in case the family lives there. Unfortunately, a quick Google seems to indicate that there are pretty much NO grocery stores in Detroit.
I’m not a native of the region, and I’m not sure what I should do. Should I just hope the family doesn’t live in Detroit and get them a Meijer or Kroger card?
Do any locals have any better ideas? Actually going to Detroit and looking around isn’t an option, as I don’t have a car and public transit around here is dreadful.
Moreover, even if you could find a store that offered gift certificates, it’s unlikely it would be close enough to help a randomly-selected needy family in Detroit:
Great idea! You or the organization you’re working for should have an address (or at least a zip code) for the family, I’d think. If you have that much information, you may be able to google the grocery stores in that zip code. That might be a good starting point. Good luck.
I grew up near the area. As some one previously mentioned there aren’t any more chains in Detroit but a few in the surrounding cities. A few that I can think of is Kroger’s (the most popular one I can think of) and Save-A-Lot. Perhaps some other Michidopers can come in and help out.
Everyone who lives in Detroit and can afford to get groceries drives to the suburbs where chains are.
Farmer Jack’s is gone, but Kroger’s is probably your best bet. There are Save-a-Lots but I’ve only seen a couple here and there. There are Aldi’s also; but as much as I love Aldi’s, I wouldn’t recommend getting a card for there. Yes, she could get more for her money, but she’s probably so used to scrimping and saving that a gift card for a “higher” grocery store would probably be a nicer treat, you know?
Are they in Detroit-city proper, or the metro area (there are suburban families really hurting now, too, which is why I ask where they are)? If they’re metro area, where are they? I could give more specific info based on that.
Not that I don’t tire of the dangerous Detroit stereotypes, but if you were Kroger’s/Albertson’s/Piggly Wiggly/whatever, would you want to set up a store in such a high crime city? Especially grocery stores that tend to have large, tall glass windows and small items easy to pocket?
There are fast food places in Detroit with bullet proof glass and a sealed lazy-susan turntable-type thing to put the food and money through so there is no actual contact with the outside (no, I am not lying). The fact that the majority of people living in Detroit are not criminals doesn’t negate the fact that a decent percentage are. It’s not worth a lot of chain stores’ time to bother risking it.
At this point, I’m about to say “fuck it” and get them a giftcard to Meijer. The family specifically asked for a grocery store card, and since there aren’t any grocery stores in Detroit, I’m going to assume that they’re either not in Detroit or they have a car. I like Meijer because you can get non-food stuff there too (and gas), and I think it’s a bit cheaper than Kroger.
I also braved the crowds today and bought the mom a really pretty scarf, too. No one should only get practical stuff.
That’s the problem with “Detroit”. It can mean anything from 6 Mi and Wyoming in the city to some suburb 20 miles out (don’t get me started on teens who say they’re from “the D” (acting hardcore, obviously) when they live in an affluent suburb 35 miles out and have only been downtown once with their parents).
Meijer would be pretty good, though again, they’re not in Detroit-proper either. They have good groceries, though and all the ones I’ve been to have good selection.
zweiskamit, the family may not be in Detroit at all. I have absolutely no idea where they are, other than “SE Michigan”. They could be in Ypsilanti for all I know.
Considering gift cards can be spent by anybody that has the card they are no safer to give than a card with cash. I say give the lady cash in a card and she can spend it at what ever place she prefers. The lady will obviously be feeding the family with the money.
This or one of those gift debit cards, which would be useful at any retailer that accepts credit cards. If it turns out the family is in an area without a grocer, they could use some of the gift/money to pay for transportation to a grocer.
But Kyla was provided with a wishlist that the family themselves gave. Presumably if the woman asked for a gift card from a grocery store… she’d like a gift card from a grocery store and has the means to get there (otherwise she wouldn’t have asked for something she couldn’t use).
…wanting a gift card to a grocer doesn’t preclude the possibility that this may be a person for whom getting to a grocer may be a considerable expense, especially as conversation here has shown that parts of MI suffer from a lack of grocers. I grew up in a similar situation, and a trip to a grocer was a once-a-month luxury that incurred a bit of cab fare, but I can imagine my mom would have asked for a gift card to the grocer if they’d been around then.
A gift debit card would then allow the woman in question to spend the money as she saw fit, including transportation if necessary, obviates the need of the purchaser to guess which grocery the woman means, and is closer in keeping to the spirit of the woman’s request of a gift card than just cash.
I’d do the exact reasoning you’d do, as well.