Erwin Kiwanis Christmas Shopping

It's 9 am at a Walmart between Unicoi and Erwin, TN. There is a line of school buses waiting outside the entrance complete with police presence inside and around the store. What is going on? Are buses used to transport people for a special event? Is it school field trip for children? Yes, but not quite.

Today is the annual Christmas Shopping event run by the Kiwanis group of the local town Erwin. Talking to one of the volunteers there, I am told that children have a list of things they want to buy and volunteers line up to partner and go shopping with them. Each child is said to have a $100 budget provided by the Kiwanis group (and probably Walmart as well ) to spend with their volunteer. There are six school buses full of children outside. That's a lot of shopping money, if that budget is accurate!



Update: Talked with a man who organizes the Kiwanis projects.

$23,000 raised

/ 176 children

= $130 per child

Children selected are need based, from a list created with the help of their school teachers.

 

The group raised money through local businesses doing various fundraisers. Putting up flags on holidays in front of their stores etc. The man I talked to said he's with a ball bearing company and they raised over $7,000 of it.

He also said, it's not just Christmas shopping, the group takes children out to lunch, and has various events throughout the year

 

A group of Kiwani volunteers and children

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 I'm glad the picture came out blurry, cause I feel weird about posting their faces even though I did ask would it be alright to take a picture... this way it's like their identities have been blurred.

 

http://www.erwinkiwanis.com/info/projects/index.html

It seems magical and cool in a way, but also strange and somehow commercial and unnatural. I asked a volunteer if the children had parents coming along, and was told that it's for just local children and their parents don't participate. Huh? It makes some sense not to have the parents come, because they would probably spend the budget on their own practical needs, not what the kids really want. But what a weird thing to send your kids off on a school bus to shop with strangers. And all those police around because of the potential for body snatchers.

It's kind of like disassembling the family unit. Corporate run society is a cause for parents not being able to provide Christmas for their children on their own, then the corporations swoop in and act as wish granters to the kids. Teaching children to love Walmart and toys, commercials, and shopping more than their parents. Strangle holding the parents with one hand, and offering Hansel and Gretel sweets to kids with the other.

Reminds me of a Red China song anybody who grew up in the Cultural Revolution has sung countless times by heart: "Father is close, mother is close, but neither is as close as Chairman Mao!" Dad's cool, Mom's alright. But nobody is as good to me as Walmart! Cool Star Wars! I love Barbie! ... Every evil empire knows power is won over the hearts and minds of the young generation.