Advent 12: Think Twice Before Toy Drives

So I'm going to say something today that might tick a few people off.  This holiday season, I want you to think twice before giving toys to charity.  I'm not saying don't do it -- just think twice.

Let me explain.  I used to be part of a church where I observed a very typical dynamic that those who work in nonprofits across the country will describe.  Throughout the year my church would do various drives: drives for school supplies, drives for canned goods, drives for toiletries for the homeless, drives for coats, etc.  For each of these drives, we'd get the same small handful of people contributing items, and the donations were always very much appreciated.

For Christmas, however, we would do a toy drive for a local charity.  The response to the toy drive every year was absolutely astounding.  We literally had truckloads filled with wrapped toys -- hundreds of them.  We had so many toys, they all had to be immediately driven by several volunteers with trucks, because there was simply not enough space to store them all in the church for even a day.  It was heart-warming to see the huge outpouring of generosity each year, but at the same time I wondered...

...Where were you the rest of the year during all our other drives?

...Perhaps some of these toys will be going to homes with empty pantries and hungry children?

...Perhaps there is one child who actually asked Santa Claus for a home...

...or to be able to play outside without worrying about gangs and guns...

...for the cost of all these toys, we could truly literally save the lives of many children living overseas in abject poverty.

As an educated, white woman of privilege, I know that my perspective can be out of touch.  To me, children going without toys on Christmas mornings seems tragic.  But then again, tragedy was foreign concept to my childhood.  I never knew what it's like to be a child living in a household with food insecurity.  I've never known what it's like to not have my basic needs for clothing, shelter, and safety met.  And I've never known the deep pain of not being able to adequately provide for and protect my children.  So perhaps, I could be out of touch with what many children -- and their parents -- actually are wanting this Christmas.  Many children are probably wanting things that my children will take for granted.  Things like food, shelter, and safety... but a Buzz Lightyear on top of that wouldn't hurt.

Buying toys is fun!  Seeing children's faces light up when they receive that special toy from Santa is pure magic.  So please understand me that I'm not saying don't buy toys for children in need this Christmas.  But perhaps when we buy that toy, we should reflect on how we've given to those same children the rest of the calendar year?  Perhaps we shouldn't forget that the very children who will be receiving these toys probably also have a lot of basic needs that their families are struggling to meet.  It's certainly not as fun to buy canned beans for the food drive, or write a check to Heifer international, but Christ commanded us to protect the widow and orphan, and to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, so those needs should start receiving our primary outpouring of time and resources -- not toys.