Some time ago, I wrote an article extolling the virtues of the Toys for Tots charity drive, and asking all who read it to be sure to donate to this wonderful cause. While I still believe in it and ask you to donate to TfTs this Christmas season, I just want to give you this little update:
I quit my job at Dollar Tree, having gotten a "real" job with the local large entertainment venue, the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum. Pays better and all that; also, no drunk managers......anyway, I stopped by the DT the other day, and asked how the TfTs drive was going. The manager on duty (the good, responsible one) laughed and said "You're not gonna believe this. When we took the load of toys over to the warehouse, they looked at them and said 'Oh no, not more of this crap! We have tons of this stuff left over from last year!"
It seems that they disdain the donations purchased from DT as "cheap" and only of use as stocking stuffers.
While I heartily agree that a lot of the DT toys aren't of the greatest quality, their use as stocking stuffers would be a plus, to me.
See, as I pointed out in my original post, Each child gets one "big" toy and two stocking stuffers. Now, if you have enough stuff to be left over from the previous year, why not give each child 3 or 4, or more, stocking stuffers and make the holiday even better for them? The more "crap" comes from DT, the more stocking stuffers could be given....baby dolls, Matchbox cars, toy soldiers, stuffed animals, baseballs and footballs....do they really think any kid is going to return the toy as "cheap"?
You know, and this goes out to anyone who might be reading this who works for TfTs: Beggars can't be Choosers.
While many people would love to go to Wal-Mart, Target or KMart and buy a nice, big, shiny toy to donate to the cause, some can't, so they go to DT and buy what they can. You should take it and be grateful instead of calling it "cheap" and tossing it into the reject pile.
The manager told me, however, that they most gratefully accepted the over one thosand dollars in cash the store had collected thus far. She said that now, however, they aren't pushing it quite as hard as before. I can see why.