Toys for Tots has decided to turn down a donation of Christmas stockings from Friends of Coal. Tots spokesman Chris Harney said the decision wasn’t an easy one. “It’s not political,” Harney explained. “We would gladly accept these if they didn’t actually put coal in them. I feel like that sends a mixed message.”

Not everyone at Toys for Tots agreed with the decision to turn down the donation. Tots assistant district manager Sheila O’Brien wrote in a memo that someone later leaked on Winchester topix, “At least this is better than the potato lobby. They gave us ketchup. Like, these are Toys for Tots, not Toys for Tater Tots.”

Friends of Coal spokesman Bob Sayles said that the organization has to reach out to the youth in order to combat the War on Coal. “They can’t legally work in the mines anymore,” Sayles said, referring to seven to nine year olds, “but they can pretend they do with our Strip Mine Starter Pack Playset. Shovel not included.”

The playset, which costs way too much in union dues and nonrenewable resources to be given as a donation, has a button that plays “Baby, It’s Coal Outside” when you push it.

Friends of Coal volunteers picked up the unwanted donations from Toys for Tots at a time when there were children present. One girl asked them why they were taking back their gifts. “Thank Obama,” one volunteer in a Dale Earnhardt hat replied.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell was asked about the refusal of the donation at a press conference Wednesday. “Good little girls and boys get coal in their stocking,” said McConnell, “and they’d get a whole lot more if Santa weren’t such a snowflake.”