The way the giveaway is being done has changed. We now have a list of volunteer givers going, and will have one each week.
I started doing this a long time ago as a way to excite members, get more participation, and to spread some of the tools out among members. I called it "Papaw's Crazy Giveaway", and it was quite popular before the "Crash of 2011".
No one is required to join in, and no one one is required to give anything away. Most of us have extra tools, duplicates, or even unwanted tools, so we don't have a dearth of offerings.