Christmas thoughts

[telophase]

Work is doing that thing again this year where a local child abuse advocacy center gives us the names and Christmas wishes of kids in the system, and we buy presents for them*, deliver them unwrapped to the center along with wrapping paper, and the parents or guardians wrap the presents up for the kids.

I grabbed two, because they were sisters and gamers, who both want PS3 games. The 15-year-old wants Call of Duty: Black Ops which, er, no. She may well already own and play Call of Duty, but I am not going to be the one responsible for determining if she's able to play an M-rated game or not. But I'm sure I can find some sort of less-than-M first-person shooter or something to give her, along with a receipt for exchanging it for Call of Duty something she likes better, or just wimp out and get her a Best Buy gift certificate. Her 14-year-old sister wants Little Big Planet. Which I will also gift with a receipt, and perhaps instead with a gift card, as I note that Little Big Planet 2 is coming out in January, and I don't know if she wants or would prefer that one.



* They put the kids' names out at multiple locations, so we don't have to worry about supplying *all* of one kid's presents.

Comments

[apis_mellifera]

Hey, thanks for doing this. Most of my nieces' Christmas gifts last year came completely from a charity that does a similar thing (except it's needy children, not children in the system) and people were just amazingly generous and it made such a huge difference for my sister and her family.

[telophase]

Great! I'll never know how this affects these two kids and their family, so it's heartening to know how it affects others.

[apis_mellifera]

It was just amazing. I'm sure the two girls you're buying for will be just thrilled.

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this! You just helped me solve a dilemma.

During this year's Desert Bus I ended up winning some auctions for PS3, PSP, and Wii games and I have none of those. Which is fine, it's for the childrens after all and the auctions are just an excuse to donate monies, but they insisted on shipping me those games even though I don't need them. And I've had a complete mental block about what the heck I would do with them.

Now I know! Brilliant! So ... I've never looked into local kids toys charities like this, how do you go about finding them?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I just did a quick Google and found the Child Advocacy Centers of Texas (http://www.cactx.org/) - I'd look up your county and see what's there, and call and ask if they're collecting gifts for kids. And if not, do they know of anything collecting toys and games. There's also Toys for Tots (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Toys_for_Tots), which doesn't list the sorts of things they collect (they do collect for kids older than "tot" stage), but you could ask if they'd be wanted.

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

That is a cool idea!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I actually enjoy the gift-giving process far more than the gift-receiving, so this sort of thing is tailor-made for me. XD

[keelieinblack.livejournal.com]

This is such a nice idea! My workplace does something kind of similar, but it's kind of scattered and disorganized, so every year I mean to contribute something and then forget until it's too late.

Also, while the 15-year-old asking for Black Ops is, yes, a little awkward, it does cheer my gaming heart to know that there are still teenage girls playing FPSes out there. :D

[mscongeniality.livejournal.com]

I grabbed one for a 16 year old girl who wants Pokemon trading cards, Naruto trading cards and manga (no series specified). I am going to be this child's new best friend. Between the spares I have laying around my apartment and what I will get from my crack dealer friend who works for a distributor this weekend, she's probably going to get $100+ worth of manga. Easy. And that's before I actually put some money in on the cards.

[tprjones.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, right after posting this reply I got an email about a toy drive here where I work. Problem solved!

Thanks!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I really like the way the center does what they can to make the parents/guardians feel a part of the process: it's bound to feel humiliating that total strangers are giving gifts to your children when you can't. But they're the ones who do the wrapping - we give the gifts unwrapped, as all charities like this do, so that they can check the gifts are new and appropriate, but the center doesn't wrap them.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Awesome! A couple of years ago there was a girl who wanted manga, but by the time decided yes I'd do it and went back to get the card with her info on it, it was gone. :(

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Awesome! :D

[mscongeniality.livejournal.com]

I feel it is my duty to the next nerdly generation. I always look and pretty much only buy for the kids who want books. Last year, I think I bought 2 or 3 copies of Twilight.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

There was an 8-year-old boy who wanted board games that I almost went for, but as soon as I saw the gamer girls, it was AWWWWW YEAH!!

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

I usually sponsor a kid or two. But this year, a couple of the hospice & nursing homes have gotten together to do the same for their residents. I can't not help someone whose request for Xmas presents is a pair of slippers and Fixodent.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I completely see your point! XD