Why force kids to go out and beg?

[lghend]

Yes, the cadets are free to join so I support them as my children attended army cadets. Great program!!!

[abbasgirl]

I have mixed feelings about kid's fundraisers. When I was a kid I was required every year to sell Christmas cards to raise money for my school. I was painfully shy and I absolutely hated every minute of it, but it was probably good for me. My parents would only bring me around to sell to people they knew though.
I really hate the fundraisers at grocery store entrances. I'm also not really a fan of kids going to the doors of complete strangers to sell them anything. But the worst thing I've seen is a karate club in my city that has kids hanging out at a busy intersection, collecting money from cars stopped at a red light. Not only does it make the kids look like beggars, but it's also really dangerous.

[PurpleBunny89]

My brother is in cadets and I think the only thing my mother had to buy for him was his uniform. Its a great program because my mother would never be able to have my brother in anything that costs money. Growing up neither did either of my sisters or I get to be in any program but we were lucky to be able to take advantage of free summer camps and the like.

With that being said my brother does have to sell tags but he is hilarious. He is the kind of tag seller I love. He stands off to the side of the door and keeps his mouth shut for almost all of the day. I think its more because he is just shy by nature but the one day I almost didn't even realise it was him.

I am much more likely to give to people like my brother who stand off to the side and don't harass you then the grown woman who attacked me going in and coming out of RCSS earlier in the week. (Heck I was there to use coupons not give my savings away!!!)

Plus I am also leery of donating to door people as I am untrustful that the money is either going to a charity at all or being misused by the charity. (May be because of working at the SPCA and seeing that monetary donations definitely didn't go to the animals but other stupid places)

I am a firm believer in giving of my time as opposed to my money.

[gradin123]

I don't have a problem with kids selling stuff but don't think they should be allowed to just beg for money. I do usually try to avoid them however if I can.

On a related note, I actually don't like when stores ask me if I want to donate. Save-On foods and the BC Liquor Stores here in BC do it all the time. I do donate but don't like being bothered by stores asking for $1 for charities they are promoting. Both tim hortons and Jim pattison are rich enough to donate enough from the profits they make from me.

[leavitts77]

cadets do run great programs i did all kinds of things when i was a kid with them really teach you valuable lessons in life and how to be indipenant more and disciplined. I would never join the military though but thats a different rant lol

[snuffaluffagus]

I thought I'd throw this in here: for those parents who aren't aware, the federal gov't offers a children's fitness tax credit up to 500$ per year. Keep your receipts upon registration of the activity(ies) and claim them on your federal tax return. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/fitness/ For this reason, I believe parents should fund any extras involved in their children's activities. As for older teenagers, how wrong could it be to expect them to invest in their interests by working (weekends/summers) and paying it for themselves? I think it would be teaching them much more responsibility than standing in front of a store or at a busy intersection asking for money.

I have my favorite charities and only donate if tax receipts are issued because I need to know that the money is accounted for. I also don't donate to large organizations that hire marketing companies to do their fundraising for them. You know the ones that you receive little gifts in the mail accompanied by a donation form? The gifts don't come from the organization, it comes from the marketing company and donators are paying for that, grrr.

I also believe cashiers are taken advantage of when told to ask customers for donations. It also isn't fair to the client because they usually don't have a chance to really think about to whom/where they are giving their money to. It has become an instant response for me to just say "no, thank you."

And lastly, because I'm really not a cheapskate , and while I don't agree that children should solicit, I do buy chocolates from them (usually elementary-aged) when I'm asked. I give the chocolates back to them as gifts because I love to see the look of surprise, then the great big smiles, on their faces .

[Hollywood1818]

It has gotten really bad...I have seen 3 and 4 years old (maybe a bit older i am only guessing) asking for money outside of a busy mall. I will not donate this way to anyone i like to do research first and decide on my own time.

[Ciel]

I worry about fundraising in the guise of pledges for someone/some team to participate in a walk/cause etc. because that person/team might benefit from reaching a certain donation level and get rewards. Some of the causes want a min. donation-not just any old change. Sometimes at one plaza, there were people pestering banking customers to support them in their walks/runs.

If there are solicitors of money at a store that is on store property, DO let the store manager/customer service staff know you are aware of them and do the solicitors have permission to be there? If the store is part of a retail complex, contact the property management office (usually in another city) about the matter and find out if the staff even knows of the activity happening.

I think each one of us knows how much we can spare and under what circumstances we forego some groceries or other usual thing in order to help a worthy cause that needs a quick response. But I have issues supporting extra-curricular activities to pay the way for trips, teachers/coaching etc. If the registrants/parents can't pay, they can't participate unless a sponsor covers or subsidizes the kids. And when its for something I never got to experience as a kid, why is it hard to tell kids now that they cannot have every jolly experience they want because there is a limit to money and to asking others for money (save your birthday money or allowances if you have them or bottle deposit refunds) but imagination is free?

[Minou]

The Cadets have tag days which helps to support their program (which is amazing BTW) because the government has cut back so much on their support. Some of these youth go on to join the military and defend our country. A fair number of the youth in the Army, Navy, and Sea cadet programs come from families without alot of income and these programs help the youth turn their lives around. Their program is offered without cost to the families.

I know that these youth do many other volunteer projects all through the year and these tags days are not them begging for money. If you don't want to given then say no thank-you.

The cadets also do the poppy program and it is a volunteer service and they get nothing for it. All the money raised goes to the legion to support the VETS. This is not the kind of fundraising that is done for other programs like sports. If these youth were not doing the fundraising for this perhaps the Vets should do it?

Some of the fundraising gets a bit much however some of the programs that do need to fundraise so they can give back to the communities in ways that are so unseen but beneficial that our communities would be much worse off if they where not able to raise the needed funds to do their work.

BTW it is Oct so if you donated to the Tag day for the Cadets you would get a tag and not a poppy. Poppy event is outlined above and supports the Vets directly.

Cadet programs:
http://www.armycadetleague.on.ca/main/
http://www.aircadetleague.com/
http://www.cadets.ca/sea-marine/

Oh, I know that Cadets is a great program for kids... it's just unfortunate that they have to go and stand around with buckets looking for donations. I'd really prefer it if some organization would take them up as a cause or sponsor them, or if parents would help fundraise or something. Cadets do a lot of volunteer work,and are known to be polite, enthusiastic, and disciplined, so it's just too bad -- kind of beneath them, really -- to see them in uniform looking for donations for their program.

And it wasn't a group of cadets that my dad saw outside of Sobey's -- it was a group of little girls from Panthers Gymnastics Club whose parents pay big fees for them to be a part of the club. He thought it was wonderful that they were selling poppies to support veterans' programs, so he wanted to buy a poppy from them!

[Insane]

I don't mind fundrasing to a certain extent. I refuse to sell chocolate bars for my kid's school cause I have no idea why exactly we are selling them? To by what exactly? If it was earmarked for a certain cause I wouldn't have an issue.

I haven't seen those kids in buckets since we moved years ago. I remember the kids standing out in TRAFFIC with their buckets hitting kids up at red lights. Are they nuts? I refused to allow my child to wander in traffic to raise money.

[marstec]

A lot of these activities cost the parents money...it's likely the parents who are "guiding" the children's fundraising efforts. We always paid our portion of the costs for activities. I never hit the relatives or neighbours up to buy tickets or anything else. I know some people don't mind supporting fundraising/charities of any kind, but I personally don't want to be a nuisance to anybody.

[Bubbelinchen]

i never send my kids out. if there are fundraisers from school they never attend. i don't like kids knocking on my door and trying to sell stuff, so i never would send my kids out to bother other people. just my 2 cents.

[bargain_hunter_lola]

Personally I like the idea of kids being involved in at least 1 extra circular program. I dont think they have to join or get everything they want, but 1 thing they are interested in then yes. There are SOOOO many benefits: physical activity, team building, confidence building, etc.

The costs are just getting out of hand and most parents just cannot afford it. Do I think extreme fundraising is the answer? No! But yes I think SOME fundraising is fine. As I stated in my previous posts though, I think the kids should have to work for the funds. Standing there pandering isn't the way to go. Renting a table and gift wrapping at the mall is a great example. I always get a few gifts wrapped when I see kids doing that. It helps me have different wrap from Santa and it helps the kids out. Win/Win. lol. Or if kids came to the door selling coupon booklets (they get local companies to sponsor different coupons and then make up booklets and sell those) I'd be all over that! lol.

I was in baseball every summer and Girl Guides in the winter. There was never any fundraising with baseball, but I did have to sell Girl Guide cookies and yes my parents walked a group of us from door to door. Did we like it? Nope, not at all. I was shy and embarrased. BUT I did learn how to handle rejection and get out of my shell/public speaking -skills that I feel are invaluable to me today.

I also agree that the kids should know what the money is going towards though.

This past summer I had a deaf mute woman come to the door selling sign lanuage books for donations to help her pay her bills. I gave her $5 and she literally cried! It broke my heart. I can only imagine the amount of doors she got slammed in her face because people have become desensitized and jaded. We're asked for money everywhere we go, and the first response is to say no and get out of there. I'd rather give my money to a person than pay $1 for a stupid leaf or whatever at a huge corporation.

On a side note completely but what happened to kids asking to mow your lawn or shovel your driveway? With DH being away this summer, I would have totally paid a kid to mow my lawn. I just cant do it with 2 small kids and I refuse to pay a big company to do it. That would be a great way to fundraise!

[aurora04]

I personally have no issues with kids fundraising. I have not seen the kid's begging in my area (it may happen, I just don't see it). I have seen kids standing in entrances to malls, and grocery stores, but they have never asked for a donation.

I am lucky, that the activities that my kids are in only 1 has fundraising. The fees we pay, is it. My DD is in 3 different dances (same school), and my DS is in a private hockey club. There are no extra costs associated with any of these that require fundraising. The only thing that requires fundraising is 4-H. We get bars that we have to sell for the province (a portion does stay with each club). I don't make my DD go door to door to sell those. I just take them to work and leave them on the counter, and that is it. We may also do a grocery bagging day (the kids don't actually bag, just load the cart) once every 2 or 3 years and they are not to ask for a donation. We don't want to have too much money in the account. We have agreed as a club to try to only have money in the account so that it is used by the kids that actually raise the money. We make enough money in the grocery days that we only do it once every 2 or 3 years. 4-H is a non-profit, and has seen funding cut by the government so fundraising is needed province wide in order to keep registration fees down so anyone could join regardless what their parents income is. As it is, if a family cannot afford to let their kids join, our club will let them join and cover the provincial registration costs for them (if they join our club). We don't want anyone left out. My kids school also doesn't do much for fundraising. They sell tickets once a year for usually a big screen TV (that was donated) and each student is given only 5 tickets (which in my case, both sets of grandparents buy). They also sell Christmas ornaments with the kids school pictures on (so again only targeted to family) and a Christmas fair (with all donated prizes) that the kids in the school and their families attend. It is not advertised in the community. All money raised with this stays in the school for various things (improving their library, the breakfast program, playground equipment, etc...).

[momgoneawol]

I really dislike fundraising for kids PAID activities. My kids took learn to skate lessons for one year and it was MANDATORY fundraising, you were forced to pay for some lottery ticket booklet per kid to support the competitive team. They never signed up again. Same with when my kids did gymnastics for one year, mandatory fundraising it was added to your registration cost.
Any school fundraising for things where they give out prizes for how many items you sell we avoid and we never bug our neighbours or family unless we know they are looking for a particular thing.
Tag days for Cadets and other activities that are FREE for the kids to join I am a biit more open to supporting as they do get some funding from Legions etc, but not enough to pay for everything. My son did Cadets for one year, it was FREE registration, FREE uniform, NO weekly dues, FREE weekend camp at millitary base to learn some basic survival skills. He did volunteer for church parades, rememberence day parade, serving dinner at veterens meal and a few other things they were asked to volunteer for. I do think that some people did take advantage of the free program as it was always the same group of kids volunteering all the time. They tried a car wash but it didn't do too well.
I do not contribute to any organization that uses paid telemarketers, as not enough of my donation goes to the cause. I also don't do those in store donations where you get to write you name on a piece of paper.
We have things we support all year long. We sponsor a child through world vision, we contribute to the local food bank regularily, help people collect things for mission trips, support childrens burn progrmas and help with local fundraisers for certain things.
I would put my kids in more activities if they didn't have this crap mandatory fundraising. The only thing my kids have done lately is gone for art lessons at the art school because there is no fundraising aspect. It seems like every time I find something my kids want to do there is a fundraising aspect and I refuse to do that, especially when all the kids seem to be fundraising for is the elite players so they can go to tournaments. My kids just want to play, not be pro's, just have fun, get some excercise and meet new friends. If you want your kids to go to tournaments and play rep, elite, select or whatever, pay for it yourself, not by everyone else in the organization fundraising for a few players.
Sorry for the long rant but I HATE fundraising. Offer me a product with a good value and I will buy it but not overpriced crap I do not need.