My church has an "angel tree" with requests from the county social services agency, last year one woman took the one for a Peppa Pig playset-she found it costs $90.00! As she said, "These kids have expensive tastes !". When you spend half the day in front of the tube, nobody in your family works and yet there's always food on the table, a roof over your head...
This year I took the one for a tricycle for a 3 year old boy. Found a nice all steel one, Made in the USA at the Trenton Bike Exchange-$15.00.
On another board I visit a Canadian member noted how in the Dominion the so called "distressed" families always have money for beer and weed and the kids have to be enrolled in school nutrition programs.
Yes, you can't blame the kids for their parents lifestyle but you can give their "parents" a good kick in the pants and make them act responsibly. Many schools have tackled the problem of teenage pregnancy by REQUIRING the teenage mothers to bring their babies to school-none of this "I left it with Momma, I left it with Granny, I left it with Auntie, I left it with my sister.." NO. They bring their babies to school, they're checked weekly to make sure they're thriving and when the girls are not in class they're in the nursery-their girlhood ended the moment they decided to become a mother. I like to quote the New Jersey judge who told a welfare queen who appeared before him as a plaintiff that she was using her children as meal tickets. On another board a member said when the pastor of his church is approached by someone with a *** story he tells them he'll give them a card for gas or groceries or whatever. If they insist on cash.......
One woman I know used to volunteer at a local soup kitchen. She said most of the people who come there should be sent to Weight Watchers.