why are kids AND parents (emphasis on parents) peddling at the corner of 30A and Defuniak for money for a trip. Not even kids from this county, begging for handouts from everyone. the kids from South Walton that I know and sponsor in boosters work for money and these kids parents are very pushy about passerbys "GIVING" money to them for a trip and I don't even know where they are from. When I asked, they walked to the next car. WTF!!! Have a car wash already or do something besides peddle your daughters on the corner for dollar bills
Replies
59SoWal Insider
why are kids AND parents (emphasis on parents) peddling at the corner of 30A and Defuniak for money for a trip. Not even kids from this county, begging for handouts from everyone. the kids from South Walton that I know and sponsor in boosters work for money and these kids parents are very pushy about passerbys "GIVING" money to them for a trip and I don't even know where they are from. When I asked, they walked to the next car. WTF!!! Have a car wash already or do something besides peddle your daughters on the corner for dollar billsWas this for a "personal" family vacation or a future school trip? We have both around here. Scouts ( :roll: )and what-not hanging around the doors of our supermarkets (they ask you coming AND going!) and then there's the families standing w/ big cardboard signs near the off-ramps of our expressways asking for money. When we're in the city every Sat., we are asked (begged) for $. Mr. JR tries giving them a banana but they don't want that. We've just about given all we can over the years. And it ain't pocket change anymore. However, most are very grateful and appreciative. You just get used to those who are less fortunate. It's the scouts that bug the living tar outta me.
Beach ComberAuthor
all I am saying is if you are from Niceville (not to pick on them but they do it frequently) then "BEG" in Niceville, or wherever you are from. Why are you causing a traffic jam on check in/check out at Grayton Corners. The kids that live here and go to school here have fund raisers and do community service and beach cleanup and these kids come here and beg for handouts. It is not even the kids that are begging, it is the parents that are jumping out in front of cars and asking for money. If you can afford to come here for vacation then you should be able to send your kid to camp
Beach ComberAuthor
the cars that were on the corner said Thank You, going to California, so I don't know if everyone is sponsoring a family or a school, but like I said, when I asked one of the parents she walked away from me, which is what irritated me so much
SoWal Expert
I, too, was wondering what group they were. I never asked, but I never saw any of the signs indicating anything other than they were going to California and needed money. I did notice one man there, maybe a coach or a parent. I thought it was a little wierd. I kept looking for the car wash around the corner, but apparently, there was no service provided, just asking for money.
Beach Comber
I gave twice yesterday afternoon at Grayton Corners. I was told the girls were trying to get to California for a softball competition of some sort.
Beach Fanatic
I stopped and asked, and it was a softball team that is trying to get the the national competition in California.
I do agree, though, they should've had a carwash or a bake sale or something. And gotten out of the middle of the street. I was worried I was going to hit someone.
I do agree, though, they should've had a carwash or a bake sale or something. And gotten out of the middle of the street. I was worried I was going to hit someone.
Beach Fanatic
Amazing that businesses in SoWal can't have an Open sign or flag, without fear of the Code Enforecment guys, but these people can stand in the middle of the road on a holiday weekend in the middle of high season, begging for money! The rules here truly are different!
Beach Fanatic
I guess the Twin Cities fireworks fund must have already had the corner of 20 and Palm Blvd reserved for fundraising, causing the migration of the softballers to points south and east.
The reason why streetcorner fundraising is so popular is that it's apparently hugely successful. Any time there's a public discussion of it, its supporters point out that it brings in something like five times the money that you make on a carwash or cookie sale.
I hate it because I think it's a horrible accident waiting to happen, and because the fundraisers think nothing of causing a huge traffic back-up during rush hour for the sake of their cause. But it's probably going to still be around until a horrible accident happens because of it.
The reason why streetcorner fundraising is so popular is that it's apparently hugely successful. Any time there's a public discussion of it, its supporters point out that it brings in something like five times the money that you make on a carwash or cookie sale.
I hate it because I think it's a horrible accident waiting to happen, and because the fundraisers think nothing of causing a huge traffic back-up during rush hour for the sake of their cause. But it's probably going to still be around until a horrible accident happens because of it.
Beach Fanatic
I too had to pass this way many times yesterday....along with our staff and everyone was annoyed. Not so much by this softball team wanting money, but the dangerous situation it was putting many in.They seemed to be having a good ole' time jumping out in front of cars, yelling, and running back and forth across the street. But, I was more upset with the parents (adults) that were with them that should have been the role model....and that they were not! They were doing the exact same thing!
It was too dangerous during this holiday weekend and especially on a busy corner where sometimes people from out of the area don't even know how to handle a 4 way stop!!!!:roll: And, I agree, we can't put up signs or flags without some repurcussion....and yet they were not only in the middle of the road, but also blocking The Rivard Board of Businesses in Grayton with all their cars and people standing around. And those signs are hard enough to see!!!
Just venting!
Kat
D&K's Cafe
Beach Fanatic
yeah, and code enforcement doesn't work on weekends, and all the cops were busy with the unbelieveable traffic coming into the area.
SoWal Insider
One of my teenagers works at the library for 8.50/hr. I guess that's asking too much of kids today. The money begging gauntlets at intersections, stores, and my front door make me wonder if it's not training for later in life.
SoWal Expert
One young girl almost jumped in front of my car today at that intersection. Fortunately, for both of us, I was on high alert and proceeding with extreme caution, so nothing happend. The adult, standing in the middle of the double yellow stripe on the road, cut her eyes in frustration at the young girl. Those people were causing a bit of chaos at the four way stop, as some people were giving, thereby screwing up the stop/go.
Seemed like much fewer turn out today, and they were looking very tired.
So is this softball team from Niceville? If so, that is so not right in my book.
Seemed like much fewer turn out today, and they were looking very tired.
So is this softball team from Niceville? If so, that is so not right in my book.
Beach ComberAuthor
They walked away to another car when I asked where they were from. They were not from South Walton High School, which I think is the only school that should be doing any fundraising in this part of town. And I would be very upset if those kids were out there begging for money. Winn Dixie allows kids from Alabama and Okaloosa County to bag groceries for tips by the outlet mall and I don't agree with that either. If their towns are that bad then the parents need to be encouraging their kids to make where they live better, not shuttle them down the road to the nice towns. And, I am sure that what they were doing does make 5 times more money than a bake sale, and I am also pretty sure that selling drugs would make me about 5 times more money than using my degree, but besides being illegal, my parents and teachers taught me that you have to work hard for what you want. Also play hard after you get it, which is why I live in SOWAL.
SoWal Insider
I hear ya. But they believe they will get more money at that site than in Niceville or wherever. In Louisville there is an annual fundraiser for local children and the areas childrens hospital. Local fire departments do the majority of the fundraising and they do set up at intersections all across town(along with other things like bake sales etc). The local Crusade for Children has been going on for over 50 years and this years donations totaled in excess of $5 million. That success brings people to town from all over this region to work the intersections. I have seen groups from Tennessee and Indianapolis here collecting money. It is extremely dangerous and when the firefighters do it, we can usually trust that they are using caution, teenage girls are another thing all together.
SoWal Expert
To the bigger question, why do high school teams travel across the country to play sports? Isn't that a tad bit ridiculus? What ever happend to stopping at the State Level, where parents didn't have to beg for money to get their kids to the games? I can understand why they need external sources for such extensive travel, but seriously, the kids are in high school, not professional sports. I think high school sports needs to stay local and regional.
In two weeks, I have a distant relative who is traveling from TX, where they live, to Panama City Beach, so that her 14 year old daughter can play in some national playoffs for softball. I just don't get it. They are not buying a ticket for 1 girl. Instead, they, like many others, are buying a vacation for the parents, kids, and grandparents, so that they can see the girl play. Total costs for this trip will be much more than bus money and a cheap motel room shared with three other girls.
In two weeks, I have a distant relative who is traveling from TX, where they live, to Panama City Beach, so that her 14 year old daughter can play in some national playoffs for softball. I just don't get it. They are not buying a ticket for 1 girl. Instead, they, like many others, are buying a vacation for the parents, kids, and grandparents, so that they can see the girl play. Total costs for this trip will be much more than bus money and a cheap motel room shared with three other girls.
Edited
bean
To the bigger question, why do high school teams travel across the country to play sports? Isn't that a tad bit ridiculus? What ever happend to stopping at the State Level, where parents didn't have to beg for money to get their kids to the games? I can understand why they need external sources for such extensive travel, but seriously, the kids are in high school, not professional sports. I think high school sports needs to stay local and regional.
In two weeks, I have a distant relative who is traveling from TX, where they live, to Panama City Beach, so that her 14 year old daughter can play in some national playoffs for softball. I just don't get it.[/quote]
Me either SJ.
SoWal Expert
I really don't care that they make more money panhandling (let's call a spade a spade) than with a car wash or bake sale. It's called fundraising in a way that requires effort and isn't a public safety hazard. We sold candy, fruit, wrapping paper, holiday wreaths, had people pledge money for us to walk/run certain distances, and that was for us to get uniforms etc., not cross country trips. You shouldn't be competing anywhere you can't easily drive to unless you are in a national championship.
What kind of parents exploit their teenage daughters on streetcorners to earn money!
What kind of parents exploit their teenage daughters on streetcorners to earn money!
SoWal Expert
And I mean a REAL national championship - first winning in your area, then regionals, sectionals, at the state level - the stuff of olympic hopefuls and college athletic scholarships, not "the national championship of middle school soccer players from a town ending in ville with a lefthanded goalie"!
Beach Fanatic
They walked away to another car when I asked where they were from. They were not from South Walton High School, which I think is the only school that should be doing any fundraising in this part of town. And I would be very upset if those kids were out there begging for money. Winn Dixie allows kids from Alabama and Okaloosa County to bag groceries for tips by the outlet mall and I don't agree with that either. If their towns are that bad then the parents need to be encouraging their kids to make where they live better, not shuttle them down the road to the nice towns. And, I am sure that what they were doing does make 5 times more money than a bake sale, and I am also pretty sure that selling drugs would make me about 5 times more money than using my degree, but besides being illegal, my parents and teachers taught me that you have to work hard for what you want. Also play hard after you get it, which is why I live in SOWAL.
I'd take the Niceville kids any day over the SoWal high kids, and feel you're doing a huge disservice to those kids. You owe all of them an apology.
What has South Walton HS done lately while Niceville High has been sending kids to be the only High School group presenting a study at major environmental conferences in Japan (community raised something like $25K in three weeks for that one) and an upcoming one in Kenyas, consistently sends kids to the Intel International Science Fair, and is in the middle of getting ready to send the marching band to the 2008 Rose Parade- something that only something like 12 high school bands get to do in a given parade.
The school booster club and local community also funded something like 80-90% of the baseball and softball complex and lighting because the school board central office wouldn't spend the money.
And the youth softball and baseball programs here are no joke, and often legitimately compete for national titles. They're thought so highely of that both the girls softball and boys baseball teams were in the USA Today top twenty national rankings at times this spring.
We live where we live because the parents care passionately about the schools and are constantly trying to provide enrichment beyond the basics the school board provides.
But when you've gone to the same businesses who are also underwriting the science fair kids, the band geeks, the soccer team boosters, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, and elementary school programs, there is a point where donor fatigue sets in, and I can't blame a group for trying an area that doesn't really seem to do much for fundraising for its youth.
Go Eagles!
SoWal Expert
Whoa- Beachmouse! Nobody was dissing the Niceville kids. I think we are all just wondering why they came all the way over here to clog up our little intersection, when Niceville has plenty of perfectly good intersections, and the Niceville residents would probably be more into giving them money than the SoWal people. Aren't there plenty of tourists with money to hit up over there?
As a future SWHS parent (Will is a freshman this fall), I look at your comments as kind of offensive. I think it is great that Niceville High is such a great school, and the parents are involved. Niceville is a nice role model for what SWHS can do- and we are a young school that has performed quite well in a short amount of time.
We live where we live because of quality of life issues- all of them, not just school.
As a future SWHS parent (Will is a freshman this fall), I look at your comments as kind of offensive. I think it is great that Niceville High is such a great school, and the parents are involved. Niceville is a nice role model for what SWHS can do- and we are a young school that has performed quite well in a short amount of time.
We live where we live because of quality of life issues- all of them, not just school.
hmmmm......can't remember
I don't live in Niceville or SoWal, so I'm not bashing anyone's kids. But holy schlamoly--I would be embarrassed to send my kids to a school that encouraged panhandling. Shame on the Boosters, shame on the parents, shame on the administration--have the kids do SOMETHING other than jump in front of cars!
I've worked with high school kids in Gainesville (GA), Atlanta, and Nashville over the last 18 years. I've been to Colorado with them more times than I care to count, to Peru, and to Scotland. As a teenager myself, I took trips to New Orleans, Oklahoma, San Diego and upstate New York. Although some of these kids come from families who could pay to send them there and back in a limosine, many came from blue collar families much like my own. (When I was a kid, we worked. We worked every summer, and during the school year if our grades were good. I had friends whose daddies were doctors and lawyers who worked construction or at the hospital or at daddy's office. Nobody was entitled back then.)
I never would consider doing any sort of "fundraiser" that would be construed as panhandling. I've done carwashes, yard sales, raffles and dinner banquets. I've cleaned houses, put on shows, sodded yards, washed boats, cleaned up shorelines on the lake, built playhouses, babysat, roofed houses and sold doughnuts. I have used my own business as a fundraising tool, hiring kids and having my clients pay them $10 to work under me. It's tax deductible if it goes to a church or parachurch organization, and a lot of my clients will pay $20/hour.
One of the organizations I've worked with has scholarship money available from donors, but they will not hand it to a kid straight-up. The idea is that if the student is handed the money he has no ownership of the trip--it won't mean anything. Even if it's something as simple as dogsitting, the kid is expected to take some sort of initiative.
I've seen some pretty silly stuff to draw cars in for carwashes, but have never once told a kid to go play in the street and meant it.
Y'all are a lot nicer than me. I woulda called the po-pos. Heck with code enforcement; they were jaywalking.
I've worked with high school kids in Gainesville (GA), Atlanta, and Nashville over the last 18 years. I've been to Colorado with them more times than I care to count, to Peru, and to Scotland. As a teenager myself, I took trips to New Orleans, Oklahoma, San Diego and upstate New York. Although some of these kids come from families who could pay to send them there and back in a limosine, many came from blue collar families much like my own. (When I was a kid, we worked. We worked every summer, and during the school year if our grades were good. I had friends whose daddies were doctors and lawyers who worked construction or at the hospital or at daddy's office. Nobody was entitled back then.)
I never would consider doing any sort of "fundraiser" that would be construed as panhandling. I've done carwashes, yard sales, raffles and dinner banquets. I've cleaned houses, put on shows, sodded yards, washed boats, cleaned up shorelines on the lake, built playhouses, babysat, roofed houses and sold doughnuts. I have used my own business as a fundraising tool, hiring kids and having my clients pay them $10 to work under me. It's tax deductible if it goes to a church or parachurch organization, and a lot of my clients will pay $20/hour.
One of the organizations I've worked with has scholarship money available from donors, but they will not hand it to a kid straight-up. The idea is that if the student is handed the money he has no ownership of the trip--it won't mean anything. Even if it's something as simple as dogsitting, the kid is expected to take some sort of initiative.
I've seen some pretty silly stuff to draw cars in for carwashes, but have never once told a kid to go play in the street and meant it.
Y'all are a lot nicer than me. I woulda called the po-pos. Heck with code enforcement; they were jaywalking.
Edited
Beach Fanatic
I'd take the Niceville kids any day over the SoWal high kids, and feel you're doing a huge disservice to those kids. You owe all of them an apology.
What has South Walton HS done lately while Niceville High has been sending kids to be the only High School group presenting a study at major environmental conferences in Japan (community raised something like $25K in three weeks for that one) and an upcoming one in Kenyas, consistently sends kids to the Intel International Science Fair, and is in the middle of getting ready to send the marching band to the 2008 Rose Parade- something that only something like 12 high school bands get to do in a given parade.
The school booster club and local community also funded something like 80-90% of the baseball and softball complex and lighting because the school board central office wouldn't spend the money.
There is the problem! They are trying to do too many things. I think these are all great programs. But it sounds like it's too much for the community to support. Here is a lofty goal - teach the kids to prioritize. That will do 'em much better than teaching them to panhandle. ;-)Beach ComberAuthor
beachmouse, Niceville.com called and they need a psycho parent to do Eagle cheers at the corner of 20 and 85. Seriously, did you read anything before you went on a tangent about how great the school is. This thread was not started to bash Niceville High School, but to bring a little attention to kids (and evidentally parents) asking for handouts for things that they should be paying for themselves. I don't put my kids in any activity that I can not afford. I don't pressure them to stand on a corner, or carry them off to an area that they are not familiar with to jump in front of cars and ask for handouts. But thanks for the run down of where all my hand outs have gone for the past several years. If you dislike South Walton High School so bad then stay out of their neighborhoods
Beach Fanatic
And if you've got any reading comprehension skills, you would have seen that I hate the practice as well. But comparing the kids I know (I'm not a parent yet) to drug pushers was beyond the pale, IMO.
But then I'm weird. I like high school kids. And the ones I talk to these days generally are asked to work harder academically than my generation was, behave perfectly with zero tolerance for screw-ups, have eleventy-billion different school activities, and also spend ten hours a week on projects to save Bangladeshi orphans or something. They're good kids for the most part, and I hate to see them bashed.
One thing about the usual fundraisers like pizza, wrapping paper, cookies, etc. is that they're more of a profit-maker for the company that makes the cookies in a lot of cases than the kids selling them. I can remember a series of articles on that a couple years back, and the school fundraising companies came across as rather sleazy.
I just wish there was a better way for it all to work. It's not just the ball teams that fundraise that way. The fire department, Knights of Columbus, and a couple of base service groups do as well.
But then I'm weird. I like high school kids. And the ones I talk to these days generally are asked to work harder academically than my generation was, behave perfectly with zero tolerance for screw-ups, have eleventy-billion different school activities, and also spend ten hours a week on projects to save Bangladeshi orphans or something. They're good kids for the most part, and I hate to see them bashed.
One thing about the usual fundraisers like pizza, wrapping paper, cookies, etc. is that they're more of a profit-maker for the company that makes the cookies in a lot of cases than the kids selling them. I can remember a series of articles on that a couple years back, and the school fundraising companies came across as rather sleazy.
I just wish there was a better way for it all to work. It's not just the ball teams that fundraise that way. The fire department, Knights of Columbus, and a couple of base service groups do as well.
hmmmm......can't remember
And if you've got any reading comprehension skills, you would have seen that I hate the practice as well. But comparing the kids I know (I'm not a parent yet) to drug pushers was beyond the pale, IMO.
But then I'm weird. I like high school kids. And the ones I talk to these days generally are asked to work harder academically than my generation was, behave perfectly with zero tolerance for screw-ups, have eleventy-billion different school activities, and also spend ten hours a week on projects to save Bangladeshi orphans or something. They're good kids for the most part, and I hate to see them bashed.
One thing about the usual fundraisers like pizza, wrapping paper, cookies, etc. is that they're more of a profit-maker for the company that makes the cookies in a lot of cases than the kids selling them. I can remember a series of articles on that a couple years back, and the school fundraising companies came across as rather sleazy.
I just wish there was a better way for it all to work. It's not just the ball teams that fundraise that way. The fire department, Knights of Columbus, and a couple of base service groups do as well.
Don't forget the Salvation Army and that @#$% Bell of theirs. Meanwhile, the Salvation Army and the Firemen show up in the middle of disasters, too, and I've never heard of them leaving a bill.
I think I left a whole list of fundraisers up there that have zero overhead and don't involve a fundraising company.
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