Ahh Summertime! A Time for Vulnerable Children and Youth
to Sell Chocolate Bars in the Stifling Heat!
I know you have seen them. They are usually under 15 years old. Some are much younger. They stand by banks, dollar stores, grocery stores. They stand anywhere there are a lot of people. They sell chocolate bars and almonds for obscure charities that you've probably never heard of or seen on television.
Welcome to the world of Chocolate Bar Brokering. A charity wants to raise money. It hires a broker to find a bunch of kids to sell the chocolate bars. The broker keeps some of the money. The kids are paid a bit of the money and last but not least, the charity is paid some of the money. It is legal.
A few years ago I looked into this when I found a very young pre-teen selling chocolate bars in front of an A & P in mid-February. I found an article by A Kitchener journalist which explained the practice. Although the practice isn't illegal, it should raise questions in the minds of parents who sign permission slips for their kids to go with strangers and sell chocolates. In the case of this article, the kids were actually taken out of town and one of the children called home frightened, begging for someone to get them.
With all the chest thumping and money that's been spent in Northeast London to help children you have to wonder why nobody has noticed or helped these pre-teens and teens get safer work. It's impossible to miss them as they stand in front of doors with coolers or bags of chocolates. They are so young that your first thought is, where are your parents?
Wouldn't that be better then cowering in front of the Royal Bank in the strip plaza at Adelaide and Huron in the blazing heat at noon like I saw a young male teen today. I gave him a few dollars in hopes he would buy a drink at the nearby Tim Hortons and quickly left.
I see these youth at Highbury and Huron at the dollar stores. I see them all over the northeast selling their chocolates. God knows how much they actually are paid. What a way to spend the summer. These are young vulnerable children
It's bad enough that adult panhandlers have taken over this same area. Some even come inside the Tim Hortons to pan handle. I'm a charitable person, but there are limits.
There is also also a time to protect children and young teens who really should be enjoying their summers. The Police who cruise this area and stop at that plaza to use the Tim's washroom all the time must see this going on. This activity may be legal but it uses young vulnerable people as its merchants. This is Canada?
