An organization in Arizona called "Cops Who Care" on the other hand meets the needs of children by seeking cash donations that they then use to purchase toys for a large group of children every holiday season. The organization likely does so as a result of how the group got started. The original organization developed out of internal fund drives that asked officers to themselves give cash to help and then over the years they expanded to "pass the hat" among the whole community. They officers involved then had the plan and the infrastructure to purchase, wrap and distribute the toys they purchase, (Cops who Care Website) where as the Toy-for-Tots program began by seeking toys rather than cash. The Toys for Tots program utilizes cash to resolve what seems to be a universal problem in toy drives, in that many people when they shop for donated toys see only the faces of young children, and then older children with completely different desires get left out, while the Cops Who Care program resolves to not have to deal with such an issue as it can distribute funds as per known need. (Daniels, December 16, 2007, NP)
It would seem that the development of such programs is often dictated by the original plan and intent of the programs themselves, and are likely to adapt to any wholes that might be left in the program when implementation grows or changes or needs are not met by the plans laid out by founders. This is evidenced by the adaptation of accepting cash donations (by Toys for Tots) to supplement need and pay for the administrative costs of toy drives, that cannot be met solely by volunteer labor. These things that cannot be met by volunteer labor might include the printing...
Yet, it is also clear that the importance of not leaving out older children is the main direction of cash donations.
Toys-for-Tots began as a program that sought to give hope and joy to children. To do so they decided that the most logical way to do this was to make sure that these children received toy gifts, and the best possible way to do that is to ask the public to donate those toys, rather than cash. The infrastructure to purchase all the toys, in the scope in which they give is not in place to spread the program as far as it needs to go, and people are also likely to give more in tangible goods than they are to give cash. Children are the focus of the program, not unaccountable adults who might not spend donated money on the things that will make their children happy. Though it is clear that if the gas gets turned off and Mom or Dad is unable to bake the turkey from the food pantry children would likely not feel much hope, but on the same note, the toys might distract them enough to still find joy in the day.
Works Cited
Toys-for Tots, "Call to Action 2007." October 10, 2008, http://www.toysfortots.org/documents/call%20to%20action%202007.pdf
Cops Who Care, "About Cops Who Care" October 10, 2008, http://www.copswhocare.org/about.htm
Daniels, Harriet, Older children often forgotten during toy drives: Gift cards, CDs electronics are often good gifts for teenagers, Star Banner, December 16, 2007. October 10, 2008, http://www.ocala.com/article/20071216/NEWS/212160337/1356/NEWS01&source=RSS
