Money, toys, food and gifts — including 60,000 teddy bears — have poured into Newtown, Conn.

[Baitball Blogger]

Money, toys, food and gifts — including 60,000 teddy bears — have poured into Newtown, Conn., as people touched by the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School seek to deal with their grief by helping the town

NEWTOWN, Conn. — Peter Leone was busy making deli sandwiches and working the register at his Newtown General Store when he got a phone call from Alaska. It was a woman who wanted to give him her credit card number.

"She said, 'I'm paying for the next $500 of food that goes out your door,'" Leone said. "About a half hour later another gentleman called, I think from the West Coast, and he did the same thing for $2,000."

Money, toys, food and other gifts have poured in from around the world as Newtown mourns the loss of 20 children and six school employees at Sandy Hook Elementary School a little over a week ago. The 20-year-old shooter, Adam Lanza, killed his mother before attacking the school and then killing himself. Police don't know what set off the massacre.

Saturday, all the town's children were invited to the Edmond Town Hall in Newtown to choose from among thousands of toys donated by individuals, organizations and toy stores. Elsewhere, the last of the funerals whose schedules were made public would take place, the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association said.

http://news.msn.com/us/conn-town-in-mourning-inundated-with-gifts-money

[virgogal]

1. Ridiculous.I hope some of those 60,000 teddy bears end up at Toys for Tots or some

other charity.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Of course they will Though I don't think they'll make it to the proper recepient by Christmas time.

[redwitch]

3. I am sure the toys will be shared with many.

I think it's lovely that so many kind hearted people wanted to show they care.

[Atman]

4. One of the wealthiest towns in the wealthiest state

Don't get me wrong, I certainly feel for tr families in Newtown. How can one not? But I live in CT, in another well-to-do area on the other side of the state. But I just have to ask...why do people think the people of Newtown need $2,500 worth of free sandwiches? Or teddy bears? This isn't some poor area leveled by a hurricane.

Yes, people are experiencing tremendous pain...but they didn't lose their livelihood, they weren't financially wiped out.

I don't want to appear callous, but what exactly are the donors donating to? They cannot buy back the lives of the children. Send your money to a charity or something. But $2,000 worth of sandwiches? This is a town whose residents will spend that on caterers for weekend parties. They need our emotional support. They don't need five dollar foot-longs.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Maybe people are trying to convert their feelings of helplessness into whatever form

that comes to mind. Since no one is synchronizing these efforts, people are opting for the traditional gestures.

[dballance]

6. Agreed, Make Donations to Charities in the Name of Newtown CT

I think it's wonderful that people want to show they care. You can do that in many ways. If Newtown is that affluent then the best thing people can do is make donations to charities that will help those in need in the name of the people of Newtown. That way you're still showing your support for them but directing the help to where it is most needed.

I'm sure they'll distribute the 60,000 teddy bears to organizations that will get them to kids who would otherwise not have one. I have faith in them that they will do the right thing especially given their recent tragedy.

[sabrina 1]

7. I don't think that matters. People are just trying to express their deep emotional

feelings about a tragedy that is beyond comprehension. It is the thoughts that count.

I'm sure that people will find a way to turn all this generosity into something even more positive.

The loss of a child or a loved one such as the teachers and other adults murdered that day, cannot be compensated by money. Death is a great equalizer. The fact that the victims may be from an area where no one is in need, didn't help them at all to protect that which is the most precious to them.

The teddy bears are a gesture from strangers and hopefully will bring some comfort to those who lost more than any money could buy. They are symbolic of all that is good in this world, to try to counteract the evil that took the lives of the children and their teachers.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. "Sorry rich kids, you don't get a teddy bear to help comfort you because you're not poor enough."

Is that what you're saying?

You don't get to dictate what the residents of Newtown need or don't need. And those "five dollar foot-longs," as you dismissively refer to the sandwiches, just might have been appreciated by someone who desperately needed a lift, however small. The woman in Alaska wasn't there to bring a casserole... a long-distance gift of food is the next best thing.

Based on the few interviews I've watched, the people of Newtown come across as decent and thoughtful; I imagine many of the gifts will end up with charities.

[Atman]

9. "Is that what you're saying?"

Of course not. But then you go ahead and tell me I'm somehow "dictating" what people can feel. That is ridiculous. What I posted was "what I was saying," and you don't get to dictate what my words meant.

I have no question that people feel tremendous pain and just want to help, to do something. I merely pointed out that perhaps charity would be a good way to send some love.