$350 million was spent on Halloween costumes for pets this year. (Richard W. Rodriguez/Invision for PetSmart/AP Images)
Re: “Stuffing the turkey and ourselves: Holiday consumption and philanthropy,” Nov. 9 Bruce DeBoskey column.
Bruce DeBoskey’s recent “On Philanthropy” column presents some astonishing stats: Americans just spent $350 million on Halloween costumes for pets — for pets! — and $7 billion on Halloween overall.
I didn’t even know Halloween figured as part of “the holiday season,” for which Americans this year will free up the better part of a trillion dollars. We apparently manage to spend $2.5 billion annually just for paper to wrap temporarily around stuff. Meanwhile, 70 percent of Americans say they favor decreased holiday overconsumption.
DeBoskey’s recommendation sounds convincing to me: let each of us hold back some portion of what we would otherwise bury in the gargantuan national holiday budget and direct that sum to charities helping persons in need.
Even Scrooge the humbug cottoned on to the blessing that comes from caring for “every one.”
David E. Faris, Aurora
This letter was published in the Nov. 16 edition.
