Santa's Workshop Fundraiser is OVER. MAHALO!

[Rob Tucker]

Leo, I am not interested in your opinion. You are raining on a parade. No aloha in that.

Besides, "Obie" is a user name. Not proper name.

Relax and please keep your opinion to yourself or I will consider you to be trolling.

[Eric1600]

Just when I think I've seen it all, the people of Puna take bickering to yet another level. Amazing.

[DTisme]

So much aloha and glad to see the generosity of so many! Thanks to all and I have no problem in thanking Obie both for his EXTRA generosity and heartwarming Xmas story. Mahalo!

[KeaauRich]

Many people gave to this campaign, but only one was singled out by name and amount, with the implication that this donation was better than all the rest. In dollar amount this was perhaps the largest, but every gift given — no matter what the size — was a gift from the heart based on the donors’ individual financial circumstance, so one should not have been singled out above the rest. I applaud every donation that was made, not the just the one that elicited a giant WOW.

Sorry if that’s considered trolling or raining on a parade.

[TomK]

Someone gave an extraordinary donation to give children a decent Christmas with presents, and not for the first time. Why are people complaining about this? I think anyone who makes such a generous contribution shouldn't be flamed and should be thanked.

Thank you again, Obie, for your extremely generous contribution.

Everyone else was acknowledged for the contributions, real names or not. What is the problem here? Kids in Pahoa are getting Christmas presents that they can't get from their families, and people are complaining about who gets acknowledged or how much they gave? Seriously, think before you post. If someone gives an extremely generous donation and you can't bring yourself to say "thank you" then just keep quiet. Ranting about a generous donation is not something I've ever seen here before, and is quite a disturbing thing to read.

[TomK]

Obie, HOTPE,

Way back when I was a little kid, my parents showered me and my sister with Christmas presents. As a five-year-old, I still remember my sister telling me she could hear Santa's jingle bells and that I had to sleep or I wouldn't get any presents. Once I got to sleep there were small presents in my bedroom when I awoke but had to wait until going to church in the morning before I could see the real gifts.

My parents did this because I never knew my grandparents, so didn't have the same things many kids do, although I'm certainly not alone with this experience. What it did teach me, however, is that this was a magical time for me and just having a gift or two that I didn't expect just made my day. At that age, I didn't care who paid for it, I didn't even know what money really meant.

This is what disgusts me about one or two recent posts. People are donating money to make underprivileged kids have, hopefully, the same sort of Christmas I experienced as a young five-year-old. I don't remember people bickering about who spends the money or how much they donated.

I was taught to say "thank you" to whoever bought the present and if it was particularly generous I would do something to help pay it back.
Being so young I rarely got that pay-back offer, but on occasion I was asked to rake leaves in the yard - something that was fun for me back then!

[PaulW]

We weren't very Christmassy at home so I don't have that many memories, but I sure remember the joy in getting those presents!

[TomK]

As you get older, the joy is in giving those presents. Well, at least it is for many of us.

[Eric1600]

Yeah. I'm still amazed. It seems like an over the top sit-com filmed in a retirement home.

table of elderly people sitting around and a staff member who found a random dollar outside hands it to one of them as a gesture

Here's a dollar I found outside, why don't you have it, Bob?

Bob: "Thanks, but I don't need charity."
Ed: "Hey, why didn't you give it to me?"
Mike: "Are you going to give us all a dollar?"
Steve: "Why didn't you give anyone a dollar yesterday?"
Bob: "Bunch of freeloaders."
Ed: "Why just a dollar? You can't get anything with a dollar."
Mike: "I'd take it. My property value was so low from the thermal plant near my house I lost a fortune when I sold it."
Steve: "Typical government running things into the ground."
Ed: "It's because they built that new telescope which is draining all our power."
Bob: "Yeah. And here we have more suckers just handing out dollars. I bet these types don't care about anything like what happens when they build that round-about. It's going to be a disaster."
Steve: "I went to scream in the planning meeting and they still think it's a good idea. Crazy kids. It will ruin everything."

[continues for 25 minutes with occasional laugh track]

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

It seems like an over the top sit-com

Yes it does. I'll just add that the price is right and don't forget - - no commercials!

“Facts fall from the poetic observer as ripe seeds.” -Henry Thoreau