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Charities that give to kids for christmas.. a little long.
I went to wal-mart this morning and right inside the door they had a Christmas tree w/ those little tags w/ names on them. I stopped, got suckered in, and ended up buying some things for a 7yr old girl.
I told Chris. He didn't mind, but I don't think he was thrilled. He is kind of a pessimist when it comes to things like that. He said, "I hope she gets them." and "I hope they don't just throw everything into a big pile and sort it out evenly."
Well, I hope not too. I bought things according to what the tag said she wanted. This was a Salvation Army deal.. Chris doesn't care for the Salvation Army (which I didn't know until I told him I did this).. so I think that has something to do w/ his scrooge attitude.
Is there an organization that does something similar that you contribute to?
My thoughts are; we are not broke, and these kids didn't ask to be put in a situation where they may or may not get anything for Christmas. The girl was 7, gosh. My neice is 6 and it makes me so sad that she could wake up Christmas morning and not have presents. I admit that I was a spoiled child. {hell, i'm still spoiled. my dad has been asking me for days what I want for my birthday and Chris keeps saying i'm spoiled}
I looked over several of the tags, and there were some that were asking for MP3 players..and other just wanted simple things, like the girl I got wanted Hannah Montana anything, and a pillow pet. {wth is up w/ those things?}
I have my neice this weekend and I want to take her to get a name and have her pick out some things for a child. I want her to know that kids are not as fortunate as she is.
When I was a kid my Grandma was part of Kiwanis (she probably still is) and they did a toy thing and she always took us to hand out presents to the kids.
wow. this is long. Sorry
Re: Charities that give to kids for christmas.. a little long.
My charity of choice is the Kid's Charity of Tampa Bay. They are an amazing charity that helps makes the lives of foster kids better. They built "A Kid's Place," which is sort of like a temporary foster home, which is awesome because it's a bright, cheery, happy place for kids who get put in foster care, and the best part is that the whole point of the place is that it's big enough to keep brothers and sisters together.
I know there are a lot of kids who don't get much or get nothing for Christmas, but these kids don't even have loving parents to give them that basic security that every kid deserves.
I know their charity director personally, so I have no concerns about the credibility of their work.
Here's a link to their toy drive.
My silly Lily is almost 4.
My company gives to the Salvation Army each year through the Christmas Angels program. You can sign up for a kid and then you try to buy them what they're asking for, or whatever you want to give them. It sounds like the same thing you participated in. I'm pretty positive that the kids definitely get what you give them. A fellow coworker was actually a recipient of the program when she was a kid and she really appreciated everything she got!
Last year was my first year actually "adopting an angel". I'll admit, I had a feeling of "gee, I wish I could find out of the girl liked everything I chose for her." But all I could do was trust that she did
H and I try to adopt and angel tree child every year. Instead of wasting tons of money on each other, we would rather give to a child in need.
I was an angel tree child when I was younger. My father passed away (on Dec 4th) when I was about 7 and my mom became a single mom of 7 kids. I remember that Christmas too. I got the biggest blue stuffed teddy bear (one you would win at a carnival), some barbies and a few other things, but the stuffed animal I will always remember... he was so huge. My mom told me about it years later that our church had done this for us. I don't know if you go to church or not, but maybe you could talk to them?
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Like chelsea said churches are a good place for doing kids charities, ours gives shoes etc to less fortunate kids and families during the holiday
Like chelsea said churches are a good place for doing kids charities, ours gives shoes etc to less fortunate kids and families during the holiday
I think that is SUPER cool of you to do. I mean the 6 year old might not realize it now, but when she is our age, she will be like Aunt Jena is a pretty cool cat helping those kids in need. I remember that time we bought presents for someone.
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You can contact a local school that has a large needy population. Our school is desperate for donations around Christmas!
(Sorry I chimed in so late! Hope this helps!)
I'm chiming in late, too but I've volunteered with the Salvation Army and see that the kids get the gifts (at least their parents do, anyways!).
My job as the volunteer was to take the parent's information, get their child's registration number and go get the back of toys that the person bought. They'll also get wrapping supplies and a few things for stocking stuffers. At least that is how it worked when I volunteered with them a few years back.
I also like Metropolitan Ministries. I think the OP's idea of giving to the foster home place is great. In my experience dealing with hte parents is what has taken away from the fun of it. Although, that could be the scrooge coming out in me!
Doing it with your niece is an awesome idea. I started this year with my 3 year old and she didn't quite get it. When I made the comment that some kids aren't as lucky as we are because their parents don't have a lot of money, she replied, "Well those mommies need to go to work." I'm telling myself her response was more of me always telling her that I need to go to work so I can make money to pay for things and not her being a cynical grinch!