Lesley Carhart 
My gen z students are terrified to fundraise for their team. They won’t even go to a single store without me. 20 of them. I don’t know if it’s an in person thing or post COVID thing but it’s going to be super hard to fund their tournament travel….
Femme Malheureuse@hacks4pancakes After a teenager was shot knocking on a door and a 20-year-old was shot and killed when their friend pulled into the wrong driveway, I'm not at all surprised youngsters are very leery about any activity which might require F2F time with strangers — on top of the risks related to the ongoing pandemic.
Dave Wilburn 
@hacks4pancakes I remember going door to door in high school fundraising for my marching band. Nowadays, I feel like that'd just be a good way to get shot. A lot of America has gotten angry and armed in recent years. I wonder if that might be a factor in their reluctance?
🏴 Greg Sideyr 
@DaveMWilburn @hacks4pancakes also, just how unappealing and awful public spaces are made for kids these days :/ Nothing says "hey look at me" to bored cops/security/whatever like a bunch of kids wandering between locations without buying things
Awkward Boomer@hacks4pancakes It takes me four or five weeks to get past this reticence. It’s truly worrisome how emotionally isolated these young people are. They trust no one older than them, and who can blame them?
@mgkspapa to be clear I don’t, I’m just very worried
OpenDNA⚙️@mgkspapa @hacks4pancakes I don't see how a rational fear of violently insane Olds translates into "emotionally isolated". Seems to me that the kids are fine but the rest of us are not.
@opendna @hacks4pancakes Fair perspective. I didn’t mean to suggest something negative about an entire generation. It’s a rational posture to adopt, as you say. I value these young people so much.
@mgkspapa @hacks4pancakes I'm a cis, white, grey-beard so I live this stuff vicariously. I've befriended a chubby queer boy at the dog park. Poor kid leads introductions with "I'm a boy" because he gets cat-called by creepy old dudes. It sucks.
That would suck before the trans panic, and it would suck if he was a girl. But at least he doesn't live in the US, where he'd have to expect people to get violent about it.
That Anonymous CowardPerhaps they are scared of not being taken seriously or someone accusing them of scamming for cash?
j_angliss@hacks4pancakes the struggles are real. Seen scouts doing popcorn fundraising in front of big box stores, and not wanting to talk to people. Between the "stranger danger", the news of folks being blasted for knocking on the wrong door, and monthly mandatory school "drills", it's hard for some folks. My son struggled visiting neighbors either side of us who we talk to all the time.
Lots of alternatives in cyberspace, gofundme, etc. Good luck, and if you set something up, post their links here!
@j_angliss We can’t find a virtual option that’s adequate at the levels you would typically get from sponsorship with local businesses. We did a gofundme last year, and got about $800 for the whole year (I did amplify it here). Tournament travel for a sports team of 20 means funding part of cross/country trips for 20 kids and maybe a coach or two. It’s really problematic. Especially for the least privileged kids whose parents can’t afford fo help.
@j_angliss we do everything on the cheap, like caravanning by van instead of flying whenever possible, but even shared lodging for the ones who can’t afford it eats that up fast. I’m having to spend my lunch escorting them to stores but I can’t scale. This is really a scary problem.
@hacks4pancakes yep, have/had same issue with scouts. Summer camp would be $300 but bus fair was $900+ each. Hard for that kind of money to be found by most folks :(
People are also a little weary of giving cash to people at store fronts because of the possibilities of scams too, even with a bunch of folks being there.
I'll try watching out for future fundraisers.
Darrin West@hacks4pancakes Can they go “in costume”? The indirection can remove some personal investment. Eg when I saw kids in their band uniform, or gi, or Scout uniform as a donor, I treated them w a lot less suspicion than a random person w a box of chocolate bars.
Femto@hacks4pancakes If they have some kind of fundraising campaign online, perhaps some of us internet folk can pitch in a few bucks?
@hacks4pancakes (only if safe/prudent to disclose of course)
@Femtoduino they don’t, unfortunately. They’re trying to get corporate program ads.
Andy Cooper@hacks4pancakes I am sorry that they feel so unsafe. I mean with me it was anxiety and generally not liking people due to poor experiences.
Middy@hacks4pancakes Gen Z here, I totally understand your students. I would be absolutely terrified to do IRL fundraising for anything, before or after covid.
@Midknight I wish I could figure out what to do because their team is going to be gone without money. Stores won’t give me money. I’m not cute. I am old.
Chris@hacks4pancakes Maybe it's because I live in a smaller town, but that surprises me. Our local high school robotics team is out there wheeling and dealing with all the major business like a veteran sales team.
Andromeda Yelton@hacks4pancakes you know how if you have mild to moderate anxiety about a thing, you need to be exposed to it in manageable doses, because if you just avoid it it gets bigger?
Yeah so everyone with social anxiety who had extended covid lockdowns, aka mandatory social avoidance. At an age of rapid social development no less.
@hacks4pancakes (Not saying lockdowns were the wrong idea at the time. The alternatives were pretty bad too, you know? Just the mom of a teenager here.)
Erzbet@hacks4pancakes
Would it be possible for them to call the stores and ask to setup an appointment with whoever is responsible for sponsorship/donations?
It might be easier for them to go without you if they have prearranged the meeting and have a practiced "sales pitch." It takes away some of the unknowns which can make it less scary.