geoff wrote:
> Does it really matter who meets where, who rides where and who finishes
> where as long as needy kids end up with the toys?
>
> Or do you think all the other victorian out of Melbourne toy runs like
> Ballarat, Bendigo and others are somehow different to Cranbourne?
>
> Personally I have always thought it a bit odd that people ride 50 kms from
> Cranbourne into the city when they could organise thier own run *shrug*

By that logic, why not just donate the toys directly to the charities,
and avoid the run altogether?

For better or worse, people like a bit of an "event" to go with their
charity. Consider telethons, fund-raising concerts or dinners,
sponsoring of "awareness raising" events like push-bike treks, etc.

The simple fact of the matter is that the bigger the event, the bigger
the likely contributions. Therefore, anything that dilutes the "event"
has an impact.

I'm not saying it is good that things are like that, but by my
observation, they are.

Mark.

Mark Hammond wrote:

> geoff wrote:
> > Does it really matter who meets where, who rides where and who finishes
> > where as long as needy kids end up with the toys?
> >
> > Or do you think all the other victorian out of Melbourne toy runs like
> > Ballarat, Bendigo and others are somehow different to Cranbourne?
> >
> > Personally I have always thought it a bit odd that people ride 50 kms from
> > Cranbourne into the city when they could organise thier own run *shrug*
>
> By that logic, why not just donate the toys directly to the charities,
> and avoid the run altogether?
>
> For better or worse, people like a bit of an "event" to go with their
> charity. Consider telethons, fund-raising concerts or dinners,
> sponsoring of "awareness raising" events like push-bike treks, etc.

A decade or so back, when the salvos were the recipients, the outer suburban
branches used to complain that while they had a large proportion of the
disadvantaged people in the community in their areas, very few of the toy run
donations would actually make it out to them. So a club I was associated with
at the time, the MCRCV, started collecting and donating directly to the Fern
Tree Gully branch.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R
'02 CBR1100XX

Sayeth Nev.. <(E-Mail Removed)>:
>
> So a club I was associated with at the time, the MCRCV, started
> collecting and donating directly to the Fern Tree Gully branch.

.... and think of all those disadvantaged kids in Reefton, and
along the Great Ocean Road!

-----sharks
--
Nick 'Sharkey' Moore | Everyone complains about the laws of physics
<(E-Mail Removed)> | but nobody ever does anything about them!

"BT Humble" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> Pat Heslewood wrote:
> > I thought you *were* all the GPX250 owners of Australia...
>
> If you weren't kin, I'd have you beaten up!
>
>
> BTH


Hence the expression "That far kin Postman Pat!"


Postman Pat

on Fri, 12 Dec 2003 06:59 am, geoff wrote:

> Not to say I do not sometimes go to the Melbourne one myself, but I do
> find myself wondering what the distrubution break up is... and how many
> donations get much further than 30 mins from the CBD.

The Toy Run collections go into a large storage/clearing warehouse along
with all other donations that the Smith Family (or relevant charity) gets,
including businesses, charity bins, society groups (APEX, Firefighters,
etc.). Even the collections made in regional area's go to the central
collection warehouse. From there, all their holdings is evaluated for
'worthiness' and bundled into kits/packages applicable for the number and
types of groups/people that will be the recipients. Then they are shipped
back to the local and regional area's the relevant quantities depending
upon what the local charity group requests it needs.

Sounds double handling, but it is indeed the most efficient method for them.
So no matter where you drop a donation, it all ends up in the same place
and could be distributed widely. Even interstate warehouses are sometime
sending stocks to another state to even/balance out the requirements if
they are considerably lower in another state. You donation at the office
collection or MRA collection could end up going to a kid in Cairns or
Hobart.


Cheers,
Jason

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 14:36:17 +1100, Nev.. wrote:

> Mark Hammond wrote:
>
>> geoff wrote:
>> > Does it really matter who meets where, who rides where and who finishes
>> > where as long as needy kids end up with the toys?
>> >
>> > Or do you think all the other victorian out of Melbourne toy runs like
>> > Ballarat, Bendigo and others are somehow different to Cranbourne?
>> >
>> > Personally I have always thought it a bit odd that people ride 50 kms from
>> > Cranbourne into the city when they could organise thier own run *shrug*
>>
>> By that logic, why not just donate the toys directly to the charities,
>> and avoid the run altogether?
>>
>> For better or worse, people like a bit of an "event" to go with their
>> charity. Consider telethons, fund-raising concerts or dinners,
>> sponsoring of "awareness raising" events like push-bike treks, etc.
>
> A decade or so back, when the salvos were the recipients, the outer suburban
> branches used to complain that while they had a large proportion of the
> disadvantaged people in the community in their areas, very few of the toy run
> donations would actually make it out to them. So a club I was associated with
> at the time, the MCRCV, started collecting and donating directly to the Fern
> Tree Gully branch.

That logic is often mentioned around the Bendigo Toy run... years ago one
used to see a largish number of Bendigo area bikes wandering down to the
Melbourne toy run, but there is a regular turn out for the Bendigo one.

Not to say I do not sometimes go to the Melbourne one myself, but I do
find myself wondering what the distrubution break up is... and how many
donations get much further than 30 mins from the CBD.


Geoff and Jodie