don't get me started ... uh oh, too late

[wasabi_poptart]

Toys for Tots's heart is in the right place, but I realized today that according to its policy it does not accept any gifts that are handmade or handcrafted.

I think this is bad policy for a number of reasons:

1. It promotes commercialism by privileging disposable, manufactured crap over quality, handmade items.

2. It inculcates commercial values onto children by refusing to distribute anything other than factory sealed, brand-new merchandise.

3. It discourages creativity, both for the sender and for the child.

4. It reinforces the conviction that the holidays are about shopping, not about giving.

Shall I go on?

Comments

Disagree: a parable

[fightscrime.livejournal.com]

So I have some friends, you may know them, who have a tiny, well-behaved dog. They take it everywhere they can, but some places are strict about disallowing pets. Whenever it comes up that place X doesn't allow dogs, there's always a certain amount of histrionics (from sympathetic friends of the dog owners, not usually the owners themselves.). "But [Dog] is the best dog. I can't believe they allow CHILDREN here and not [Dog.] Blah, blah, blah, blah blah."
My argument is always that yes, [Dog] is perfectly lovely. [Dog] won't bother anyone...and yet, many dogs are untrained and obnoxious, and many dog owners do not even attempt to control their dogs or make them pleasant to be around. Hence, a policy. A policy that sadly excludes a lovely dog, but a policy that is basically pretty sound.

I have seen the handcrafted things you make, and they are lovely. I have seen handcrafted items made by others, and they are shoddy, ugly, etc. Like, the kind of thing that would make a child weep for disappointment if found in a stocking.
Imagine the number of well-meaning church groups or craft circles or whoever who would righteously get together and craft, well, crap to foist off on the poor kids if Toys for Tots did not have this policy.

[delqc.livejournal.com]

Yeah.... I kind of agree. Sad as it is, there is no control policy for knowing whether or not handmade things are safe for babies. Mathilda has a knit doll that we gave her thinking it was fine, and she hadn't even had it 5 min before she was ripping it's "hair" out (the hair was just knitted eyelash type yarn) and EATING it. And we, her knowledgeable awareness, had checked that thing over!

Commercially available toys have to pass safety standards and n be recalled if someone discovers a problem, so they don't have this problem, KWIM?

Also: recipients of these gifts overall tend to be a less-educated, less-aware demographic of society, and less able to catch these kinds of problems....

Beautiful safe homemade gifts are DA BOMB but unfortunately there is a lot of room for bad judgement and if Toys for Tots got sued because they gave a kid a handmade gift and the kid choked on a glued-on button eyeball, Toys for Tots would be out of business permanently.

[delqc.livejournal.com]

And when I said I kind of agreed, I meant I agreed with the disagree above. Sigh. Brain, work, please.

[brcmapgirl.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a safety issue. TfT cannot afford to be sued for distributing an unsafe toy. You know in that very cynical way that there is someone just waiting to sue them for endangering their kid.

Plus needy kids have such low self-esteem that they're looking for a lift with a shiny new toy to say that they are just as deserving as any other kid. It's kind of hard to say that to yourself when your toy is beat-up, your clothes are shabby, out of date from Goodwill. They know.

(Which is not to say your sock monkeys are awful. They are wonderful!! Have you talked to Daisyfields about stuffed bears? I know Lorraine at A Good Yarn had done some donations for them.)

[unprotoize.livejournal.com]

Anybody would be lucky to have something that you or your talented friends made, but unfortunately most handcrafts are not like that.

[dlightful.livejournal.com]

If you have/ plan to make handmade items that you want to donate, I recommend checking with the smaller non-profits in your area. They tend to be more open to these types of donations. For example: My mom and her class of inner-city high school kids knit some stuffed toys with the intention to send them to AIDS orphans in South Africa. But when that fell through I was able to arrange that they go to an agency that I work with who serves families living with HIV. The local agency was thrilled to get them.

[wasabi-poptart.livejournal.com]

that's a great idea! I know my LYS was heavily involved with the Mother Bear Project last year ... I didn't participate, though, because I didn't like the pattern they required us to use.

[dee-cee.livejournal.com]

My Dad told me back when TfT started when he was in the Corps, they took broken and used toys. Then the Marines would set up shop on base, and repair the toys to be gifted to kids in need.


I guess it's just not the same as it used to be...

[wasabi-poptart.livejournal.com]

There's some blurb on its mission page about how "every kid deserves a brand-new toy," and I think maybe that says everything we need to know about the misplaced value system at work here.

[sarcasm-queen.livejournal.com]

I understand your point, but I think the idea is that we shouldn't just be sending the broken rejects off to the poor kids. That they deserve the same as the kids whose parents can afford.

As for the repairs, etc. I'm guessing one of the other issues is toys used to be a lot simpler and therefore easier to repair. Not to mention the possible liability issues (blame the lawyers ;).

[unprotoize.livejournal.com]

Have you ever tried to make a used Barbie look nice?

[brcmapgirl.livejournal.com]

Nice? It was our mission to destroy her. ROFL.

[felinegroovy.livejournal.com]

I would also assume that other than being protection against not well made stuff from people who don't know how, it would also be protection from those creepy nasties out there (you know the type that legend says put razors in halloween apples). the chances of something similar with a toy happening are slim I would think, but I guess its worth the protection. Its sad though that that is the state.

[wasabi-poptart.livejournal.com]

There has never been a single documented case of razor blade in an apple.

I think the whole hoax was perpetrated by the National Sugar Council.

[brcmapgirl.livejournal.com]

Speak for yourself! We never got annoying trick-or-treaters after that! (j/k)