Today was my annual trip to Walmart to fill a shopping cart with toys for a reasonable price. They do it with yearly sales this time of year on a wide variety of toys and sports equipment. I shop carefully to try to include as many age groups as possible. I always include at least one Elmo stuffed toy in memory of Eric, who was a big Elmo fan. I only fill one cart to keep within my budget and space in my car. I always include at least 6 Soccer balls in a variety of sizes and colors, soccer is very popular here in Tucson.
Not surprisingly at all, no one wants to get behind me in the checkout line. It takes a while to put a whole basket of toys on the conveyor belt. I am getting more efficient at packing the shopping cart. The cashiers always ask how big is my family? Then I explain that I never removed the yearly budget line for toys. I figured that since my kids are out of the house I might as well use that money for toys, anyway to help the kids in Pima County have a better holiday season.
So after I check out and load my car up. I head to the nearest Fire Station to drop off the toys. This year it took 3 firefighters one trip to empty the entire back of my car. I thanked them for collecting the toys to help the kids and they thanked me for bringing the toys and sporting equipment.
All the helpers were doing a good job today. Please consider being a helper this year for your favorite charity project. Because of the economy, I personally feel the need will be greater this year. This is my personal guesstimate since I don’t have any empirical data to back this up. I certainly hope I am wrong, but I don’t think so.
