Thread: Marines toy program catches flack for adherence to law

BostonHerald.com - News & Opinion: Toys for i>some /i> Tots: Volunteers decry ID requirement

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegio ... ormat=text

By Ryan Johnson and Erin Dower/ Boston Herald and Somerville Journal

Thursday, November 17, 2005 - Updated: 04:34 AM EST

Longtime Toys for Tots volunteers are outraged over a new policy they say discriminates against some needy kids by requiring poor families to provide Social Security numbers to dip into the Marine Corps massive holiday toy chest.
Â*Â*But the veteran Marine who took over the program in Middlesex and Essex counties this year said the identification is needed to stop double, triple, quadruple dipping by some toy-seekers.

Â* One of the workers said last year they scrambled to get (a family) toys and when they got there the worker couldn't even fit them into the car because they'd been going from agency to agency, said Chief Warrant Officer Blair Brown.

Â*Â*What we don't know right now is if it's rampant or a very small percentage, he added. But I have a lot of people telling me the horror stories.

Â*Â*But Charlotte Knox, whose Somerville program severed a 15-year relationship with Toys for Tots over the new policy, questioned the extent of the problem. Knox, who declined to give the name of her organization, said the double-dipping is not a problem in other cities.

Â* If this is such a serious problem, then why doesn't Boston do it, or Worcester or any of the big cities? she said of the Social Security number requirement. I don't understand why our children are being penalized for not giving they're Social Security numbers.

Â*Â*Cindy Hickey, who works for the Somerville Council on Aging, said she ended her 25 years of volunteering due to the policy.

Â*Â*He's segregated children, she said. That's why I've stepped down.

They're discriminating against the children of Middlesex County.

Â*Â*Regarding the critics, Brown with 19 years in the corps said he questioned their organizational skills.

Â*Â*And anyway, he said: We've got more people with us than against us.

Â*Â*When pressed about what will happen with children who cannot, or refuse to, furnish a number, Brown could not provide an answer.

Â*Â*We have not said, you're not going to get toys he said. We are going to have to deal with that on a one-for-one basis.

Â*Â*Brown said he chose the Social Security number because it's one identifier that is used universally, so workers at any agency distributing Toys for Tots gifts can check to see if a family has already received a share.

Â*Â*Brown said social service agencies in Middlesex and Essex counties identified 45,000 children who will need Toys for Tots gifts this year, and volunteers from the Marine Corps League and other charities will help identify additional families. Brown said he’s worried about the negative publicity, but stands by the decision.
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If people hadn't had such heartburn with this, it wouldn't have been outside these agencies he said. Now you're telling the world to go hack these sites. I've been wearing the green suit for 19 years. For me, things need to be on the up and up.
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It's the nature of the beast. Some can't be happy with just ONE toy, they have to have them all.

And as much as I respect the Marines for carrying out this noble mission year after year, I have about decided that kids need food more than they need toys.

OOPS! I hit send too early. In light of the fact that the kids don't seem to appreciate the toys and probably the ones who go stand in line to get all of them take them down to the flea market and sell them all, I've taken to using my extra cash at Christmastime to feed the growing number of homeless veterans who crowd our homeless shelter. I owe them something that I can never repay.

The "kids" of Middlesex County are done playing with "toys" in the conventional sense by the time they go to school! Yes, it's a shame that the Marines have to do this but it's not their fault that it came to this and those "kids" are lucky that they still give enough of a crap. The least they can try to do is act innocent!