Christmas Daddies makes me sad

I don't like Christmas Daddies. I don't like the telethon in the way that atheists don't like Christmas Nativity scenes.

Christmas Daddies, in case you're not familiar, ie, don't live in Atlantic Canada, is a non-profit organization that makes sure needy kids get Christmas gifts. They partner with the Salvation Army. Great cause. Heart warming. Every kid deserves a good Christmas, and all that.

So, why am I such a Grinch during Telethon Day?

1. Resource Draw: Each year the telethon raises hundreds of thousands of dollars... around $800,000 this year I think was the final count. Thousands of people across the region take part, thousands of volunteer hours are given throughout the year. All those resources... imagine if they were ensuring every child was fed. Or immunized. Or healthy. Or able to read.

2. It's more like Old Home Week. Every year, the same people take part. For 47 years this thing has been going, and for both audience and guests and fundraisers, there is a comforting familiarity and sense of yearly reunion. There's the same people bidding on the plunger, the same people giving big cheques, former CTV newscasters coming back to pitch in. Very cozy. And they ask every person with a big cheque why they chose Christmas Daddies, and they invariably say, "Because it's such a good cause" or "It's for the kids". Well, so's the IWK. And Early Intervention. And the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and a dozen other charities I could name, including Feed Nova Scotia. One lady this year refreshingly broke that mold to begin her answer with, "well, we could all agree on it." True, it's non-contentious. Who argues with TOYS FOR KIDS? Nazis, that's who.

I would argue the real reason that many support it is because they traditionally have, and they get to hang out with all their old pals (even if only virtually via television).

3. What values are we teaching? Yeah, here's the stickler, the one where I invite the tomato throwers and reveal myself as a humourless peacenik Polly-Nofun. When we say that we will fundraise 12 months a year and give thousands and thousands of dollars because the idea of one child going without a toy is anathema, what are we saying?

Well, of course kids need toys... but let's pick that apart a little. What toys? Teddy bears? Lego? Learning toys? Barbies? Bratz? the latest hot thing? Toy guns and soldiers? Video games? Who chooses the toys? How many does each child get? What does the UN Charter of Children's Rights say about toys? How many is a child's 'right' and how many do they 'need'?

And again, are we saying, by focusing our resources this way, "too bad your dad's too sick to work, and the factory was closed so your mom was laid off, and you have canned tuna for Christmas dinner. We can't do anything about that, but we can make sure you get a nice toy."

They say the "money stays in your community"... do they buy Atlantic-made toys? If the toys come from overseas, is there any consideration to the plastic created, the transportation of the goods, the environmental impact of the toys? Can you even still buy local toys? Is buying local -- and thus creating jobs to ensure fewer kids need charities to buy toys -- considered poor stewardship of limited toy buying resources?

There are a few other issues I have with the show... like the easy perception that telethon good will creates ample advertising opportunity and obligation for CTV's benefit throughout the year. But that's pretty cynical.

It makes me sad that the show seems sometimes to be more of an excuse to have a fun reunion party and get your group on TV to avail yourself of the publicity than it is about actual caring for kids having a good Christmas. Because if that was all there was to it, all these thousands of people could just take their toys quietly to the Salvation Army, or their nearest school, along with a hamper of food and some warm boots, and be done with it.

I've got a bad attitude. This is the reason I'm not in development anymore!!