Teenagers asking for basketball donations in Buckhead - bad experience (home, camp)

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by AtlJan

Actually, It's pretty easy to tell the real fundraisers from the con artists regardless of skin color. The real fundraisers have on their band uniforms in 85 degree Atlanta heat. They sit outside Kroger w/ their moms/coaches etc. I will buy melted candy from these guys any time. The scam artists don't have on uniforms, have no goods to sell, randomly come up behind me in the Target parking lot, and cuss at me when I say "No thanks". Not that hard to tell the difference.

Exactly. People at supermarkets are local and know the local teams. School? Which one? AAU? Which team? These scam artists are at hotels because travelers from outside the area won't probe them and call them out. It's not rocket science. OP: You made the right decision.

[LovelySummer]

I disagree.

My thing is, teach the children to work for what they want in life. Many of these kids are teenage young men. They are on the verge of being adult men and they must learn how to stand on their own at some point.

Teach these young men to go out and earn their money. What male coach would teach his own son to stand on the corner and beg instead of learning one of the important skills of being a man -- making your own way and working hard? I think the coaches do these young men a disservice. The coaches give these young men the idea that they have no goods to offer and that they best they can do is beg for a handout. That's bull and it deprives the young men of an opportunity to have pride about what they are trying to achieve.

I really blame the coaches because they are adults and should know better but they seem to take the lazy way out instead of working hard to actually come up with a real fundraiser for the kids. I guess that would require more work than just telling them to go out and beg.

I don't ever give them money because I do not want to support a system of boys bigger than me begging as their way of making it in life and I wish I saw their coaches out there with them bc I would give him a good talking to. He should be helping these boys become men. Not just athletes.

They can wash cars, sell candy bars, sell anything! Carry groceries to cars of people exiting a store. Hell, they can go door to door and mow freaking lawns in their uniforms!!! What ever happened to good old yardwork? You want the uniform? Earn it. Caddy. Boys can caddy at 14 or so, right? Clean up. People always have junk in the garage that they need to have moved or removed.

These are young, strapping men in the making. They are healthy. They are running around in the heat in band uniforms or doing athletics. So we teach them that they only thing they need to work for is on the sports field or on the band field? But not for the other goods? That's a bad message. Teach them to work for what they want, not beg.

I would never let my son stand outside and beg as his way of getting money for a uniform or for anything else. I don't care what the coach says. My son would have to sit down and come up with a plan for how he is going to offer something and make his own way. Not beg for a handout.

Heck, the parents should be ashamed too.

When these children become adults and get pressed against the wall what are they going to do - come to Mommy and Daddy and ask for a handout? Or figure out a way to make ends meet on their own? It's never too early to teach children to earn what they want in life.

Originally Posted by kasuga888

There are always people giving money. 5-10 an hour is believable. Maybe its not that these people dont want to work but there might not be work for them.

[ToucheGA]

Originally Posted by sedimenjerry

I would only consider helping if I knew the area. I know what sports teams are out here. I know what youth clubs or what schools are around.

Perhaps this is why the scammers hang around hotels. People from out of town are less likely to know about the local sports teams.

[Jessica2099]

Originally Posted by ToucheGA

Perhaps this is why the scammers hang around hotels. People from out of town are less likely to know about the local sports teams.

I was approached by the scam a few months ago in Chicago. I started talking about AAU sports (since I have played AAU soccer and softball), and they had no ability to carry the conversation. I went on my way.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by kasuga888

Maybe its not that these people dont want to work but there might not be work for them.

Nobody is talking about work in terms of actual jobs. A simple Google search for "school fundraiser" brings up page after page of examples of how to raise money for school activities. The kind of work these things require is there for the taking, always.

[CMMom]

Some of you seem to be missing the obvious. Most of these kids are probably not on any team at all. They're just trying to get money for nothing for their own purposes. So, all the discussion about better ways to fund-raise is really beside the point.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by CMMom

Some of you seem to be missing the obvious. Most of these kids are probably not on any team at all. They're just trying to get money for nothing for their own purposes. So, all the discussion about better ways to fund-raise is really beside the point.

You said most, and you're right. Most of them are just looking for cash to put in their pocket. But if we accept that some, or even just one, is a real team that is doing this, our input on how to better fundraise is not beside the point.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by JPD

You said most, and you're right. Most of them are just looking for cash to put in their pocket. But if we accept that some, or even just one, is a real team that is doing this, our input on how to better fundraise is not beside the point.

It's pretty easy to recognize a legitimate fund raising effort for a worthy cause...if you detect any shadiness whatsoever it's probably a scam.

[Tryska]

Originally Posted by helena101

I just can't believe that this is the best use of an afternoon if the goal is to raise money. I mean really, a bunch of healthy teens/adults standing around begging for $1 bills at an intersection, the same strategy as a mentally ill or disabled homeless person? With many people declining to open their windows because they're not sure if it's a scam? How much could each of them really be raising per hour? Surely there's a much better way to go about this that would raise more money.

As I understand it, some of this is "gang-related" - initiation type-stuff where older adults" basically lure the juvies in to get some of their dirt done, knowing that they will get less jailtime.

Starts with the panhandling. Crews of kids just dropped off to beg and run this "I need money for xxx-camp" with those stupid signup sheets. Then there's the breaking into houses and stealing cars stuff.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Tryska

As I understand it, some of this is "gang-related" - initiation type-stuff where older adults" basically lure the juvies in to get some of their dirt done, knowing that they will get less jailtime.

Starts with the panhandling. Crews of kids just dropped off to beg and run this "I need money for xxx-camp" with those stupid signup sheets. Then there's the breaking into houses and stealing cars stuff.

I ran into some kids begging for money who were only 10-11 years old. It was nearly 9 pm and I was concerned about their safety.

They had no idea what basketball camp they were supposedly raising money to attend. When I asked them how they got there they said "Our coach dropped us off" but they didn't know (or wouldn't say) the alleged coach's name or when or where he was supposed to pick them up. I am 99.9% sure they were being used by some older person.

Very sad.