Time was, the Salvation Army had the inside track on Christmas Sea- son fundraising. But nowadays, schools everywhere deploy armies of kids at holiday time to raise money for such various and sundry causes as team uniforms, cheerleading and other projects, in competition with charities that are struggling to raise funds to help the sick and needy.
RAISING MONEY FOR TEAMS AND SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
SHOULD BE CONSTRUCTIVE AND NOT INTERFERE
WITH THE LEGITIMATE NEEDS OF CHARITIES
Leave the holiday fundraising in front of malls, shops & street corners
for the many charitable organizations that serve the sick and needy;
teamwork-based projects, like car washes, are a better approach
TEACHING THE WRONG LESSON TO THE KIDS
By David Maril
As the holiday season arrives, walk to the entrance of a supermarket and the chances are you’ll be greeted by youngsters from a youth hockey program or a girls’ softball league holding out coin containers asking for contributions.
Leave a crowded coffee shop, especially on a weekend, and there’s a good chance you’ll run into a couple of Pop Warner cheerleaders in uniform, requesting donations for their program.
Stroll through an expansive store mall and it’s likely you’ll encounter several groups of high school athletes collecting for some type of project planned for the spring.
Even if it’s early in the morning and the donation request is made to the grouchiest of us before we’ve even had that first coffee, it’s hard to refuse throwing some change into the containers.
How can you give the brushoff to kids in Little League uniforms?
It would be un-American!
Only the most mean-spirited types would ignore donation requests from youngsters decked-out in their team colors.
How can you be against youth sports programs?
Isn’t it great to see kids involved in activities that seek funding for their teams and programs?
What could be better than having students learn at an early age that projects and programs cost money, hence the importance of work and dedication to achieve goals.
There’s only one problem with this concept of kids standing around asking for money to fund their programs.
The method is all wrong.
SENDING A DISTORTED MESSAGE
It is sending a distorted message that throws the whole venture out of perspective.
Certainly with an unstable economy, and budget crunches everywhere, it’s imperative for many athletic teams and activity programs — in and out of high school — to enlist fundraising help from participants.
This, however, should be turned into excellent learning experiences with the efforts centering on projects where some type of work is done to raise the money.
In the spring, some teams and programs organize car washes, have bake sales and mobilize workforces for neighborhood cleanups.
The feeling of accomplishment from completing a successful work-based support-project adds extra meaning to the season or activity when it is held.
Conversely, what do kids learn from standing around in shopping malls on a Saturday morning begging, holding out containers for coins?
Often they become so bored, or caught-up in their conversations with each other, they don’t even look up at the people who contribute.
The worst part, however, is that this practice of youngsters collecting money is competing with charities and causes for the sick and needy that rely on this method of support.
This is especially true during the winter holiday period.
NOT ON THE SAME LEVEL AS CHARITABLE CAUSES
As important as it is for youth sports and activities to be funded, raising money for new uniforms is not on the same level as charitable causes.
The practice of collecting donations outside of stores this time of year should be left to fund-drives for providing holiday meals for the needy; supporting research to cure diseases; assisting disabled veterans; aiding troubled families; and plenty of other causes that, in many cases, save lives.
However the fundraising territorial battle on street corners and in front of stores doesn’t figure to ease up.
The next few weeks, heading into cold weather and the New Year, is the crucial fundraising period for many organizations assisting the sick, troubled and underprivileged.
At the same time, budgets are being scrutinized around the various states. In Maryland, athletic programs for youngsters, along with many activities, are going to be struggling even more for financial support.
There will be an even greater temptation for these programs to mobilize participants to compete on the street for the dollar.
Hopefully, fairness and a sense of what is right will prevail.
If the youth programs need to raise money, they should have the participants organize projects that offer some type of work or product for the support.
During the holiday season, charitable organizations, often dealing with life and death situations, are the groups that should have priority.
davidmaril@voiceofbaltimore.org
“Inside Pitch” is a weekly opinion column written for Voice of Baltimore by David Maril.
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