Needy families lined up long before sunrise yesterday outside the Sacred Heart Community Services to find Christmas gifts for their children. Each of the 5,000 families that pre-registered for the event could pick out up to two toys for each of their child, from among the 15,000 that were donated this year. Especially popular were bicycles—over 1,000 were donated—and books so that parents could read to their children.
Organizers were especially proud of the fact that people could literally “shop” for the gifts, and pick out just the right present for their kids. But they have also seen a drop in donations because of the recession, and are worried about the coming months, particularly with the sharp rise in requests for help.
This year Sacred Heart distributed 3,300 baskets of holiday food to needy families, a sharp increase from the 2,500 baskets that were given out last year. Throughout the Bay Area, charities have seen requests for help jump by 20 to 40 percent, while donations to groups like Sacred Heart and Second Harvest are down by half.
Read More at The Mercury News.
The “news” people frequently bring us stories of these various giveaway programs which, they inform us, were a rousing “success” because lots of people showed up to take the free money, food, product, or service that was being offered.
This isn’t news. News would be if people DIDN’T show up to take the free stuff.
Nor is it success. Success would also be if nobody showed up to take the free stuff.