Getting Gifts Is A Lottery

(Members of my church help buy and wrap holiday gifts for children whose families use a nearby food bank. Some of the gifts we’re wrapping were donated by another church. At the wrap activity, presents have been sorted by age and gender onto different labeled tables. I notice on the “Girls, age three and under” table, a package of fake lottery tickets, which is a bad, bad idea for many reasons, starting with not being a toy. Personally, I wouldn’t even give these to an adult, because some people object to gambling and someone can easily mistake them for real lottery tickets and be upset when they find out they didn’t really win a jackpot.)

Me: *showing tickets to a friend at same table* “This really shouldn’t be a gift. It’s inappropriate.”

Friend: *reads package* “What’s wrong with it? Oh, it’s for ages four and up. The ‘Girls, four to five’ table is there.” *points and then moves fake tickets on the other table, when I don’t do so*

(I wonders what’s going on with [Friend], as this is not like her. I shrug mentally and go to [Organizer #1].)

Me: “Hey, someone donated a gag gift, a pack of fake lottery tickets. I think we should remove it. It’s not a gift for a little kid; they won’t understand. Plus, for families without much money, it’s not really appropriate.”

Organizer #1: “It’s fine; it can stay.”

(I decide this is worth bringing up to Pastor and go find her.)

Me: “Hey, Pastor. Someone donated fake lottery tickets to the toy collection. They’re with the ‘Girls, four to five’ gifts. Is this really okay?”

Pastor: *outraged* “WHAT? No, no, no! [Organizer #2]! Someone gave gag lottery tickets. We’re finding them; they go in the trash!”

(I am glad I caught this and got someone to pay attention. But who thinks donating lottery tickets (fake or real) to a toy drive is a good and kind idea? At least FOUR people, by my count; the donor, the person who sorted the donations, [Friend], and [Organizer #1].)