[Domestic Goddess]

WHY is it that every year I walk past the Kmart "Wishing" Tree and the Target "Tag a Toy" Tree, I see big loads of presents for the girls, but hardly any for the boys (and elderly)????

It's bad enough that the boys have less choice of clothes, shoes, toys, etc, but now the less privileged of all, have to end up playing with girls toys. No harm in that ofcourse, but why the discrimination? What makes people buy for girls and not for boys???

I can't afford a "bought" present for my own son due to some financial difficulties that I ran into recently. However, he will be getting some hand made gifts from me and I have been sewing a few sock monkeys and making cute money boxes to donate to these charity runs, and have added tags to them that say: for BOYS ONLY.

Please think about the boys AND the elderly when buying gifts for these kind of Christmas charity drives. Or if you don't have a preference and can afford it, consider buying 1 small gift for each category.

*Steps off soap box and waits for people to wholeheartedly disagree*

[jayskette]

add my vent! Spent 10 years buying books and craft sets etc for the Kmart tree and one year I heard from a worker associated with the scheme that they THROW AWAY the books because too many books are donated and not enough toys and sports equipment, and NOBODY in the recipients list are interested in books whatsoever! *sigh* it just confirms education is not highly valued in those communities.

[-*meh*-]

add my vent! Spent 10 years buying books and craft sets etc for the Kmart tree and one year I heard from a worker associated with the scheme that they THROW AWAY the books because too many books are donated and not enough toys and sports equipment, and NOBODY in the recipients list are interested in books whatsoever! *sigh* it just confirms education is not highly valued in those communities.

what a load of crock... i know so many kids who would prefer a book under the tree than nothing!

[Domestic Goddess]

jayskette they should just add what toys are appropriate and what are not, on the tags.
Unfortunately, books should never be seen as inappropriate.

BUT it isn't charity that chooses what toy goes to what kid. I remember going along with a friend of mine to drive her to the Salvos and pick up her presents.
There were 2 rooms packed full of toys, sorted according to age. The parents were the ones who were allowed to choose 1 item per table. There was a table with books, but at the end of the day, most toys were gone but the books were all still there.

So it is the parents greediness and ignorance that makes books "unwanted" by charities

[Becky Thatcher]

This is why I am doing the City Farmers Wishing Tree for dogs in the shelters.

[Bedge]

Our local Rotary tree is awesome. They gather gifts for the old and young, with little discriptions of the person who will be receiving the gift, and sometimes a gift suggestion.

[jayskette]

what a load of crock... i know so many kids who would prefer a book under the tree than nothing!

Perhaps I am not donating to the right places?

what a load of crock... i know so many kids who would prefer a book under the tree than nothing!

Perhaps I am not donating to the right places?

[Monket]

add my vent! Spent 10 years buying books and craft sets etc for the Kmart tree and one year I heard from a worker associated with the scheme that they THROW AWAY the books because too many books are donated and not enough toys and sports equipment, and NOBODY in the recipients list are interested in books whatsoever! *sigh* it just confirms education is not highly valued in those communities.

That may have been true in her circumstances but it is certainly not the norm and I would suggest that her organisation could have found a better home for the books. I used to work for an organisation that was the recipient of a target tree and the gifts were all distributed to worthy recipients.

OP, most trees have tags with gender and age as they generally have recipients for all the pressies. I will make an effort to specifically choose a boy tag this year and buy something fabulously boyish! I will PM you.

[Carabosse]

add my vent! Spent 10 years buying books and craft sets etc for the Kmart tree and one year I heard from a worker associated with the scheme that they THROW AWAY the books because too many books are donated and not enough toys and sports equipment, and NOBODY in the recipients list are interested in books whatsoever! *sigh* it just confirms education is not highly valued in those communities.

What they might mean is they 'throw' them away or give to the salvos AFTER Christmas. i saw a report on one of these tree schemes last year and they didn't hand on your wrapped gift, your gift is unwrapped and sorted into a warehouse and the recipient goes and selects what gifts they want to receive themselves or give to their children. This could explain why they have so many books left. Seeing how the gifts were selected put me off a bit.

(I do understand they also have to unwrap the gifts to check the suitability)

I usually give whatever gifts I have in the present box that I have not given out throughout the year.

This post has been edited by Carabosse: 14/11/2012, 05:41 PM

[me*andmygirl]

That is really terrible ;-( As I was reading this I was thinking what can I donate.. I was thinking a book would be good. These people definitely shouldn't be picky about what they get.