Donating

Donating Clothes & Toys After Christmas

You house just became a crazy place again didn’t it?  Now you have all these NEW things to find places for!  I will be many of you still have new clothes sitting in boxes full of tissue paper, still not put away. The drawers are full, closet is full… where will they go?

Toys sitting on the floor because the toy box or shelf is already over flowing with toys. Right?

Now.. I want you to be totally honest with yourself here.  I want you to go look at that closet, those drawers, those toys.  How many of those things have been sitting there, untouched for months? Maybe even years.  We all do it. We hold onto things.  That dress that looked so awesome, 50 pounds ago; that baby toy that we got and loved for your son that is now 10 years old. You know what I mean. It’s difficult to give things up.

Now, I want you to think about that family that has a father who lost his job, or that single mom who is working two jobs to help feed her three kids, that family that had a fire (probably in the news in the last week huh?) and lost everything.

                                                             (picture from google picasa)

Look again at your closet…. think about those who can really use those things…. look at those toys…. think about those kids who got absolutely nothing for Christmas.  Can’t you make some room in your house?

Selling Them?

I know of many people and hear many people who plan to sell everything.  I understand that, I get it – but… how long has that plan been in place? Have you ever executed it? Have you gotten that ebay store going like you keep saying you will?  When can you have the garage sale? In the summer… 6 months away?

Garage Sales - I have had garage sales in the past, I think they can be great. I can always use the money too. If the time of year is right, you have the motivation and time to do it… great – great… get ‘er done! If you can’t have one for months, then forget it.

I say – donate it and take the tax write off.  Help others and clear your house NOW!

Where do you donate?

Good Will
Local Shelters
Check with your Church or a local church
Check with your local Food Pantry
Check online for many resources

This is a food pantry that isn’t far from me.  I had a friend who used to work here. Most donate their time.  They had food that they gave out to those in need.

They also have a clothing thrift shop.  As I remember anyone could come in and purchase the donated clothing & toys at very low cost and for families in need, things were free.

Here was the pile of clothing and items that people had donated that the staff had yet to go through for the day.  You can’t see, but that pile was up to about my waist. Awesome!

When Donating 

Please don’t give them broken toys or toys missing pieces
No torn or damaged clothing (if you can’t wear it because of damage, others can’t either)

Donate and feel good, knowing you have just helped yourself and your family (by creating needed space, teaching valuable lessons to your children, helping with taxes, doing the right thing) and also knowing you are helping those in need.

Pepsi Refresh Project

Pepsi is having a contest called Pepsi Refresh Project –  for those who are attending SXSW (South by Southwest).  Since I just found out I am going to get to go to SXSW I entered the contest.  It would be so cool to see this come to fruition.  My friend Debbie is the one who works at a food pantry.  She has told me how important it is to give cash instead of cans for food drives. She is also in the process of developing a web site called “Set Another Place.org”. It should up and running by the end of the month. It will focus on raising money for your local food pantries.

She has referred me to a site called Cash Feeds More that the guy has a funny rap to help you understand why.

You can enter to win on Consumer Queen if you are going to SXSW.  The Consumer Queen will pick one winner from her site of what she feels is the best idea. She will then represent that person at SXSW and campaign for them to win the Pepsi Refresh Project. Whoot Whoot…cheer me on!!

Here is my entry video.

Sears Hometown Stores’ Food Drive

The Sears Hometown Stores are holding their 4th annual food drive. These food drives will benefit the local communities that store is located in. The one that is closest to me is the Mt. Vernon, Ohio store. The food collected will either go to the Mid Ohio Food Bank for Knox county or it will go to local food pantries in that area throughout the months of November and December.

The Mt Vernon Sears Hometown Store will receive donations of canned and boxed non-perishable food items November 8 through December 31.
To find a store nearest you go to Sears Hometown Stores. (There are about 950 of them)
In the past 3 years they have collected more than 250,000 non-perishable food items throughout these stores.

Here is a quote from the press release I received:
“We welcome the opportunity to host this event again,” said Marty Kozar, CMO/DVP for
Sears Hometown Stores. “We feel privileged to join in a local effort to lend a hand to those
experiencing hardship in our communities, and want to encourage our customers to open their
hearts and their cupboards to this initiative.”
You can donate non-perishable canned and boxed food, cleaning, diapers and paper products in the donation boxes at your local Sears Hometown store during business hours.
**Now here is the bonus – For being so generous and helping others, Sears is going to help you. You will get a discount off your bill. How great is that? Thanks Sears.

If you do not live near a Sears Hometown Store you can make your donations (cash or food) to your local food pantry.

Disclosure: Sears Hometown Stores have provided me with information for this article. They have not paid for this post nor given me any form of compensation for this post.