Marine Corps League/Toys 4 Tots *problem*
Last night at the monthly MCL meeting, we had an intense debate regarding Toys 4 Tots. My league has members who seem to have their hand in every friggin organization in town, and thus, are very political. Here is the situation, I will try to make it short:
For 5 years, my MCL has raised money for T4T. This year, a couple of our members made a motion to only give 50% of our T4T funds to them. This is due to the fact that they are personally p.o.'d about some incidents that took place regarding fundraising. (These men are also involved in a group called GoodFellows.) Apparently, they are mad because the MCL approached a big employer in town (Chrysler) and received donations, and THEN the active duty Marines went to Chrysler in their dress blues and collected even more money. These men are also mad because other organizations are trying to get donations for T4T also. They claim that T4T is OUR territory, and if people are going to get in our way, then screw Toys for Tots.
I don't get this reasoning at all and it is causing a LOT of hate and discontent. I say "who cares where the money comes from, it's about the kids, not us or politics." I was told last night that I should "go to some of the meetings (apparently GoodFellows meetings) to see what is going on." I don't think that I have to get involved in another organization to make decisions regarding the MCL. These egotistical old farts are just upset because they seem to want all the recognition and glory. I would be more than pleased to make anonymous donations, I don't need my back patted every time I do something for charity but some of these guys always expect something in return. Case in point, last weekend was the Vietnam Veterans Reunion, and one of these old farts drove there and was mad because they wouldn't let him in for free. He told them "I raised over 2,000.00 for you guys and you can't let me in for free?" So he left. D***, the ticket price is only 7 bucks, and trust me, this guy has money flying out of his butt.
It is things like this that makes me really mad. A SSgt from a nearby reserve base came to our meeting last night. He is the new T4T rep and he stood there and read directly from the SOP that any funds gathered, using the T4T logo, must be given to T4T, and if they are not it is basically embezzlement. Boy, you would have thought this SSgt murdered a kitten right in front of these SOB's. They tried to tear him a new a-hole and basically disrespected him, because they are upset, stating that years ago a "gentleman's agreement" was made between T4T and the MCL that we would split it 75-25 (and this year they wanted to vote to split it 50-50.) I was very upset at the way they treated this squared away, motivated SSgt, and I told them so, making tempers flare even more. This SSgt is just doing his job according to SOP. He doesn't care what has gone on in the past, he is going to do it the way it is supposed to be done.
Now, these old farts are talking about not even raising funds for T4T next year, or just not using the T4T logo, so that we may use our funds as we see fit.
Boy, I am so mad right now I can barely see straight. Any advice on how to handle these guys? Maybe I should just let it go, but I get worked up about stuff that I think is unjust.