'Tis The Season

It's no secret that I dislike Christmas. I always have. Now that it's three days away I comfort myself with the fact that it can't come again for another year. So, yeah, I can't stand red and green or Christmas trees, Christmas music makes me hope for a coma, and I don't understand the idea of "Christmas spirit". I think being Jewish has a lot to do with it, but I digress.

This year I've agreed to attend a Christmas Eve dinner with some of my cousins and then go to church. This kind of thing is cringe-making for me, but I have pills for that, right? One of the nastiest surprises of my parent's divorce was the sudden demand that I eat Christmas dinner with the Jewish side of my family. That tradition seems to have abated at least for this year, so I guess I'm punishing myself with a church service? I don't know.

Anyhow, the one good thing I will say for the holiday season is that it brings about a swell of charity. Which is nice. And good. And stuff. Personally, I don't think we should just reserve one season for giving, but, whatever works. I think it's important to emphasize, however, that when it comes to charity it's important for people to be well informed about the organization(s) they're supporting. One hugely popular outlet for giving at the holidays is the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. I'm sure you're familiar with the concept, seeing as the media is inundated with ads for them right about now, but it's this: you donate new unwrapped toys that are then given to needy children who otherwise might not get Christmas presents.

It sounds good, doesn't it? One not commonly known thing about the Toys for Tots program is that your kids can only get toys from it if you have a home address and a phone number. Don't believe me? Check out the FAQ section of their website. I'm not saying that I think Toys for Tots is a bad program - but I think it's very short sited for a charity (especially such a popular one) to only cater to certain socioeconomic stratas. Really, really poor people don't have homes, let alone phone numbers. They just don't.

My point is this: if you're going to give money (or its equivalent) this holiday season, make sure you really know where it's going and what good it will do. I'd argue that one of the best things you can give is your time. But not in the celebrity-soup-kitchen-photo-op kind of way. Because that's just dumb.