Cute Toys

I think most of us would agree that this time of year, whatever you call it, is a special time of year for children.But it can be a sad time for poverty-stricken children, and with this never-ending recession the number of children whose families are poverty-stricken has multiplied immensely.Fortunately, there are a lot of people in this country who go out of their way to buy and donate toys for underprivileged children (and many of these good people go without things for themselves to make this donation). This unselfish act by good people is one of the things that makes me think there may be hope for the human race.And of course we all hope and expect that these donated toys find their way to a home where they make some child very happy on December 25th.Unfortunately, they may not be happening.

It seems the Salvation Army may once again be letting their rather odd beliefs get in the way of helping children and honoring the wishes of those who donate toys.Last year at this time we learned the Salvation Army was refusing to give donated toys to children of undocumented immigrants (as though those children were not deserving of a little happiness).Happily, the bad publicity the organization received over this mean-spirited action forced them to abandon that practice. But this year the Salvation Army is once again letting its beliefs get in the way of the charitable efforts of their donors.This year the Salvation Army has decided that certain toys are not compatible with their religious beliefs -- such as toys based on the Harry Potter and Twilight movies (popular toys that many children would love to have).Captain Pam Goodyear of the Salvation Army said,"The Salvation Army is based on christian principles, so these things are not in line with those."

Now one would think the Salvation Army would tell the donors so they could take the toys to another charity (or forward these toys to another charity themselves), but they don't.They accept them and then throw them away (although it seems that plastic M-16s and other war toys are Ok and compatible with their beliefs).This is just wrong on more than one level -- it shows no respect for the charity of donors and it deprives children of toys they would love. This is the kind of thing that makes me happy I don't toss money into their red kettles or make any other kind of donation to the Salvation Army.Their strange beliefs get in the way of their charity efforts far too often. I don't want to discourage anyone from donating toys, but I do urge you to do that with an organization that respects your efforts and the happiness of children.There are many, but my recommendation is the Toys for Tots Program done each year by the United States Marine Corp. They'll make sure every toy finds a home with a happy child.