In another thread, a comment was made about CFTO's Tom Brown, 'spokesman' for Toy Mountain, which got me wondering...

Perhaps this is completely off topic. Perhaps this is even verboten and will understand if the Mods delete the thread, however...

When I returned to the Toronto area about five years ago after a long, long absence, I was astonished by the airtime given to the Toy Mountain collection process and the amount that appears to be collected each year. I wondered if Toronto currently had a whole lot more "needy" people than when I had left. Surely they had collected enough toys to give every child in the Metro area, needy or otherwise, a little something. Or five.

I suppose I could rant about my youth... four feet of snow... uphill both ways... but that aside, define "needy".

Am I alone in being a Skeptical Scrooge? Is this a once-noble cause that has been turned into free-money for anyone who asks?

I am reminded of an old comedian's Christmas song...

Deck the halls with poison ivy,
Fa-la-la-la...
'Tis the season to be greedy,
Fa-la-la-la......"