A couple of months ago, I participated in a "Walk For Aids" fund raiser. I was pretty chuffed about the whole gig: new friends, a glorious walk along the Guadalope River Parkway, identification with efforts of "Beautiful Day," a groovy new T-shirt, and so on. I even won several prizes for having raised $635. (And that's before getting the corporate matching gifts process figured out. I'm still working on that. Who knew charity could be so confusing and time consuming. I really must be a New Millenium kinda chick: I find myself wanting my charity to be convenient, accessible online, and preferably with auto-populating form fields.) A BIG thanks to all who supported the cause.
Imagine my surprise when I received the following message about a week ago:
Kathy,
I am writing to inform you that the six pack cooler bag issued during the Walk for AIDS 2007 may contain lead. The cooler bag was one of the prizes given to walkers who raised $250 or more for this year’s Walk. Please contact our office at 408-451-WALK and we will gladly replace any of these bags with a reusable canvas shopping tote. If you choose to keep the cooler bag, I suggest that you not allow food to come in direct contact with the liner, and that you wash your hands after use of the bag. Please contact any person to whom you may have gifted the box, and inform them of this matter as well.
Who knew that successful participation in a philanthropic effort could be so potentially threatening to one's health?! Of course, the AIDS Coalition never intended harm (so NOT what they are about!) and did the right thing, right away. But the whole experience does cause me to pause. If a good-will gesture from a fund-raiser isn't safe from accidental threat, what about Christmas? Will I end up sending my own apologetic recall letters in mid-January to friends and family? And even if a gift doesn't pose a direct physical threat to the cherished recipient themselves, was the production of it harmful to someone else? A sweat shop worker in Vietnam, say? And even if it was made in domestic, well-lit, heated and union supervised conditions, what if the recipient already has one? Will they throw the old one out, thereby filling up the landfills even faster? If the gift has a plug of some kind, am I contributing to the Great Electricity Grab and ultimately to global warming? What if Al Gore shows up with a camera crew on my front porch on Christmas morning?! I know: I'll hit him with the new solar powered K-Tel Slice-O-Matic I've asked Santa for.
Maybe I'll just stick to buying carbon credits (online) and a poinsettia for everyone on my list. And don't worry about the dog eating the poinsettia: they aren't poisonous.
Where did you go? Write more please.
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