Old, new, borrowed, blue

I'm writing a FEAT post at the moment and I was checking up on adventurers and adventures. I've just read the following on a FB page for an activity coming up soon:

 "Does anyone have a contact for battery operated camping lamps. We need to borrow about 20 units... The battery would need to keep going the whole night until daybreak (about 9 hours). We also need a sponsor for 20 head torches for the athletes to wear."

 *sigh* Really? Sponsors are so not necessary for this. Many of the athletes probably have their own headlamps (I know two people participating and both have their own headlamps - more than one in the case of the one guy). And what is so wrong with borrowing headlamps (and camp lights) from friends?

I'm not quite sure why there seems to be this constant need by people doing things - especially fundraising initiatives - to 'request' or 'expect' items to be given to them by sponsors. What happened to the age-old system of lending and borrowing from people you know and supportive people you don't? It's only one night.

If each participant bought or borrowed a headlamp from a friend and purchased a set of spare batteries for the unit then they'd be sorted. This is not a massive expense. Headlamps can also be shared by runners, especially if they're doing a relay thing. It's just sweat! (minimise sweat transfer by wearing said headlamp over a cap).

And there will be loads of spectators and friends and supporters. Surely between them all there will be dozens of camp lights available? And how about some solar fairy lights to make pretty-pretty? And I have little doubt that nearby homes wouldn't mind running a long extension cable to power sensible lighting options for nine hours?

There really are so many more options.

I think this request could have been phrased as:

"Do any of you have battery-powered camp lights we can use? We're also looking for some headlamps for the runners without their own units to use. Drop me a note. Thanks."

But that's just me.

Personally, I've got about five headlamps I'd gladly make available.