What do you think of this?

A local school aftercare business is having a toy drive again this year. They then use the toys to give to the kids in aftercare at their Christmas party when they meet with Santa. This isn't a "needy kids" aftercare. The parents pay for it. Tacky?

Re: What do you think of this?

I don't know...maybe some of the kids in the program do need the help. You never know which kids need assistance and which kids don't. As long as they aren't advertising the collection for a specific charity; they aren't doing anything "wrong" per say.

Re: What do you think of this?

not "wrong," but it does leave a bad taste.

Re: What do you think of this?

Re: What do you think of this?

It's not mandatory and they're being up front about the reason behind it. I have no problem with it.

I don't understand what the fact that parents pay for the aftercare has to do with it.

Message edited 11/19/2018 2:08:35 PM.

What do you think of this?

Settle down with the snark ladies
To clarify, the advertised poster doesn't say where the toys go. It just says toy drive. I assumed they were collecting for "toys for tots" or the like.

I will add why I think it's a little tacky. I'm donating my toys to your box thinking they are going to say "toys for tots" or those in need, and then they are given to my friend's kids who go to aftercare at this business, who definitely aren't in need of Christmas toys. But, like someone else said, there are probably *some* in need that do attend the aftercare.

Message edited 11/19/2018 2:38:54 PM.

Re: What do you think of this?

Re: What do you think of this?

Posted by BargainMama

Settle down with the snark ladies
To clarify, the advertised poster doesn't say where the toys go. It just says toy drive. I assumed they were collecting for "toys for tots" or the like.

I will add why I think it's a little tacky. I'm donating my toys to your box thinking they are going to say "toys for tots" or those in need, and then they are given to my friend's kids who go to aftercare at this business, who definitely aren't in need of Christmas toys. But, like someone else said, there are probably *some* in need that do attend the aftercare.

Re: What do you think of this?

As long as the advertisement is clear it isn’t wrong , maybe strange depending on if there are aren’t a lot of kids in need, but not wrong.

I worked in a special needs school and For years and years a local company adopted our school and bought presents for Santa to bring to each of the children , the party/Christmas cheer part was fun for all of the children but then the presents some of the employees were buying got out of control (iPods, gameboys etc) , I think people misunderstood special needs for financially under privileged. The school happens to be very diverse , kids who live in homeless shelters, kids who took their yacht around the Hamptons every summer , and everything between. I finally convinced the company to do just a little something fun for everyone and spend the money on the families that really needed ( we were able to discreetly) send home items with those students).

So the point of this long story kinda is sometimes you have to give everyone a little something so no one is singled out/ if possible without making it obvious try to direct resources to those who really need.

Re: What do you think of this?

Who donates the toys? The parents of the kids or anyone? Say they have 30 kids in aftercare. And 100 toys are donated. Where does the overflow go?

I don't know. Something doesn't seem right to me.

Re: What do you think of this?

Re: What do you think of this?

Re: What do you think of this?

What do you think of this?

I think most donations are not used appropriately.

I think they are being very vague about where the toys go and therefore I personally wouldn’t donate.

What do you think of this?

Edit because I saw you answered my question in a previous post.

I think it's one thing to ask the parents. Asking the public without disclosing where exactly it's going from the beginning just doesn't sit right with me.

Message edited 11/19/2018 7:07:48 PM.

Re: What do you think of this?

What do you think of this?

I think it is very deceptive. A company donating items or a company "adopting" the program is totally different than putting out a request for a toy drive. If they want to give out gifts there are a ton of inexpensive items that can be bought as part of the money they are charging for their service. The kids will be happy with a $1 gift just as much as a $10 one, because it's fun to get something from Santa. If there are children that they wish to give donations too because of financial hardship then the toy drive should go to them via the social worker.

Re: What do you think of this?

Posted by starbrightgirl8

Posted by BargainMama

Settle down with the snark ladies
To clarify, the advertised poster doesn't say where the toys go. It just says toy drive. I assumed they were collecting for "toys for tots" or the like.

I will add why I think it's a little tacky. I'm donating my toys to your box thinking they are going to say "toys for tots" or those in need, and then they are given to my friend's kids who go to aftercare at this business, who definitely aren't in need of Christmas toys. But, like someone else said, there are probably *some* in need that do attend the aftercare.

I'd say they should be more up front about what the toys are for. It's one thing to ask parents to contribute a toy for Santa to bring to the students. At my son's daycare, the parents are asked to bring a toy for their child that then Santa delivers. I could see asking the parents to bring a toy or two for Santa to bring so they have extras for students who's parent don't or can't bring something. However, I wouldn't call that a "toy drive." I would think a toy drive is a donation for kids in need, e.g., toys for tots or a local organization. I wouldn't really be annoyed or think it's tacky, but I'd just think it was a little deceptive or misleading.