Just kinda thinking out loud here...what if for our Christmas party we set an entry fee of like at least 1 unwrapped toy, maybe a kids coat, or some canned goods for a local food bank. Maybe someone has church they go to that has one of those angel trees where you pick a name and get that kids Christmas list. I just think that as a group we're pretty awesome, and we could easily make some peoples holiday season a lot better with very little effort or sacrifice.
Tue, Nov 11, 2014 - 12:12am
#1
Christmas charity?
We will participate! Great idea.
Awesome idea! If someone doesn't have a church or something with that, maybe we can find a local charity that has kids' Christmas lists or something along those lines: I imagine we can be most effective if we've got a specific list to work from.
Great idea Brock! I will certainly donate.
This is a charity I participate in every year. It's a letters to Santa program through the Chicago Public Schools. The children write letters to Santa in their classroom and then they are collected and distributed to people who sign-up to play Santa. You get the letter from a child asking for simple things, like a doll or some paint and markers, it's heartbreaking and joyful all at once. One year a little boy asked for a backpack for school and if it wasn't too much trouble a toy car too. There is something very personal about directly effecting an individual, especially a child. Even if as a club we don't take on this charity I would encourage you to sign-up to receive a letter or two. It's a very worthy cause brightening an undeserved child this time of year.
http://directeffectcharities.org/id2.html
Another great charity is Toys for Tots, which has been a Chicagoland tradition for decades.
http://chicago-il.toysfortots.org/local-coordinator-sites/lco-sites/defa...
Great idea! I'm in for a gift or two to whatever we decide on.
I reached out to Goose Island Clybourn to see if they are going to be a Toys for Tots drop-off location again this year. Heard back pretty quickly that they thought they were, but they are going to confirm it.
In years past, they would release a new beer based on the number of Toys donated. Figured we can have a part two of the Christmas Party where we all head over to tour the brew pub and hand over the gifts.
Think this is an excellent addition to the party!!!
Great ideas, would definitely participate in any of these.
Great Idea, Joe. Doing more charitable work would be a great thing for the club, and this sounds like a good fit
I'm down, great ideas all around!
Ken, I think the Toys For Tots option through Goose Island sounds like something we can have the most success with. When should we take them to goose island? Should we send out an announcement that donations are strongly suggested for the Christmas party? This is fantastic! To paraphrase the Wu-Tang Clan "Chaos is for the children". Nancy's suggestion looks amazing and I will certainly get a letter or two from them just to do myself, but as a club I don't know how we'd do it logistically. I think we can certainly get a big pile of toys and drop them off/go drink at goose island no problem.
Goose Island is excited to have us add to their toy donatation and will be meeting with their team for their toy drive next week. It looks like this is 99.9% going to happen, they just haven't had the planning meetings on their end yet. They will be getting back to me early next week to confirm 100%.
Did we ever find out the specifics on this? Price limit, etc?
We are officially teaming up with Goose Island Clyboun for the Toys for Tos program, only thing we need to confirm with Goose Island is the date that we will be bringing all of the toys to the brewpub. They are excited to have CHAOS participating with them for this worthy cause.
If you are coming to the CHAOS Holiday Party & Bottle Share, please consider bringing an unwrapped toy that will be donated on behalf of CHAOS Brew Club.
Here are some FAQs:
Q: What ages are supported by Toys for Tots?
Most campaign sites are able to assist children up to age 12, but in many local communities, local support is such that the age limit may be extended to 14-16.
Toys for Tots does not publish a list of appropriate toys to donate. If such a list were created, most would follow it, resulting in a limited selection of items to distribute in each community. We would rather our donors consider what might be an appropriate gift for their own child/relative, purchase the item, and donate to Toys for Tots.
Toys for Tots prefers not to accept realistic looking weapons and gifts with food. If donated, such items will NOT be distributed.
Thanks for setting this up, Ken!
I am always on the scope for educational toys, I am a big fan of this place;
http://www.sciplus.com/
And, they have some cool stuff for around 20 bucks.