Got the rather belated Christmas letters

[conuly]

Several kids want bikes this year. That's... way out of budget. If any of you won the lottery this year and want to spend it on presents for poor kids, let me know.

Comments

[dragonyphoenix]

You might try freecycle. It depends on what people are willing to part with, but it's worth a shot.

I'm still hoping to win the lottery!

[conuly]

I believe we are discouraged from sending used gifts. Poor kids are, perhaps, primed to be extra sensitive about that sort of thing. And I completely understand, actually.

(I mean, if they wanted, like, an out-of-print book or game or something, then whatever... but a bike is a bike.)

[dragonyphoenix]

Oh, I was thinking your kids wanted bikes. As long as it worked and was safe, I'd be perfectly happy with my kids - if I had any - riding used bikes.

[conuly]

No, Jenn's office collects letters from social service organizations and fills their requests. Except most of her coworkers just want to give the cash, not pick the gifts, so she gathers up their letters and gives them to me. I love the gift picking part!

But this year it's mostly... bikes. And scooters, and skateboards, and one kid wants table tennis. (And one kid wants books. He gets everything.)

And yeah, I'd be happy enough for my nieces to have used bikes, but that's a gift from a friend or from me - not charity. It just feels different.

[wpadmirer]

What kind of cost are we talking? I'd be willing to go without a gift to give one to a child. But I'd have to see if I could afford it.

[conuly]

Worse than I thought - I thought it'd be about $90, but Amazon suggests that an 18 inch bike is more like $120 - plus an extra $80 for assembly.

All notes have a little sticker saying we "are not obligated" to spend more than $40 on a gift. So you can see how a bike is a bit more of a big ticket item, and there's like three of them this year, and a skateboard, two scooters, one "basketball hoop" (another non-starter), and a table tennis set. I have no idea how much a table tennis set costs. I'm afraid to look.

All these kids are going to have to get something a bit more, um, sedentary.

[movingfinger]

Walmart (online) shows a Razr scooter for around $60, not sure if that is locally achievable. Basic skateboard is $20-$40 (maybe the kid spec'd something fancy), you'd want to check the quality reviews! Walmart and Toys R Us do have bikes, basic ones, for pretty cheap. How old are the requesting children?

If this is for charity, you might be able to get a store like Toys R Us or Walmart to donate, IDK but it's worth considering. Local hardware store or some such might be more receptive.


ETA: Bikes, skateboards, scooters imply helmets etc. too. Locks at least. It does mount up...

[conuly]

How old are the requesting children?

Mostly around 6 - 8. The older ones know better. The program, I believe, goes up to age 12.

I can go to the local Toys R Us and see what they have, if it's cheaper. That's an idea.

[wpadmirer]

Is there a Walmart in your area? Because I found this, and if you could go with Walmart, I could probably front at least two.

https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=bicycle&typeahead=bicy

[conuly]

There are no Walmarts in NYC, and no way I'm finding somebody to drive me to NJ for this. I like helping kids, but not that much.

Though I wonder if I can order and have shipped? Does Walmart do that?

[wpadmirer]

I don't know. But it might be worth a look.

[conuly]

Of course, these kids have no idea how much these things cost, and a lot of them are young enough that I think they really believe the gifts are coming from Santa. I just wish the people helping them fill these out would direct them to more realistic gifts sometimes.

[wpadmirer]

https://www.walmart.com/ip/MD-Sports-Official-Size-Table-Tennis-Table/39073011

Table Tennis would also be in my price range.

[movingfinger]

They need a place to set that up, 9' x 5'. (This is the sort of present that makes parents want to kill relatives...)

[wpadmirer]

Oh, definitely. But if it can be done, it would be nice.

[dragonyphoenix]

Yeah, that would feel different to me too.

[archangelbeth]

If there's a local bike shop around, you might ask if they have any like-new refurbished ones, or discontinued models that are new (or floor-models that look new), or if they want to go in with this... (Especially if this is something that could be made tax-deductable?)

...I haven't won the lottery. O:(

[conuly]

There is, and I guess it doesn't hurt to ask... but they're pretty small, so I don't know that they'll be able to do it.

[archangelbeth]

Fingers crossed!

[gatheringrivers]

I have no idea if there's one of these in your area, but I see news stories occasionally about a person or a charity that collects used bikes, fixes them up, and gives them FREE to local poor kids.

Sadly, it's been long enough since I've seen the last article I dunno what to even tell you for keywords.

But, it might be worth looking to see if there's an equivalent in your area. "Used" in some cases could pass for "new" or "next to new" with a good wash and maybe a new seat.

Beyond that, I'll second the call out on Freecycle, or whatever equivalent you have. Maybe even craiglist? Or there's one called "ReUseIt" that has SOME local branches. If you do facebook, check there (and if you don't, don't sweat it.)

[conuly]

The other problem here is that we're actually past the deadline already. Tracking down a second charitable endeavor for this is... well, it takes time we literally don't have.

No, I'm going to probably just get them all something else active but, um, smaller.

[gatheringrivers]

Heh! I don't blame you. Once the holiday season is over, maybe worth tracking one down for next time?

Wish I had a better alternate suggestion. :(

[loligo]

The social service agency I worked for participates in a similar community-wide gift program. We were single-handedly responsible for bikes being put on the "forbidden" list. :/

Our program was for first-time parents and ran through age 5 for the target child, so we didn't typically submit a lot of bike requests to the Christmas present drive. But one year, a father's three older children came to live with him and his wife (who was a first-time parent, so that's why she was eligible for our program). And all four of the kids asked for bikes, and all four donors BOUGHT THEM.

The volunteers who run the program have to sort hundreds of gifts in the space of just a few days and they just couldn't handle lugging all these bikes around through the sorting and distribution process. So the ban was enacted, and I think it was a relief for the donors who sometimes got such requests.

[conuly]

That's another thought.