I like to do something for a charity at Christmas. One year a friend of a friend was organising a Christmas present for each child at a school in Cambodia she'd visited - the little packages were mainly stationery supplies and a few personal grooming things. We loved that one. Another year I took my niece to the shops and we bought toys and treats for the dogs at the local RSPCA then dropped them off. (The lovely staff let my niece give treats to a few of the dogs herself to say thank you. That was awesome.)
This year - and last year - I've been involved in Share the Dignity's It's in the Bag campaign. In case you haven't heard of it, here's a little intro:
My sister did a collection at her work and brought the goodies to me, and I was the assembly point. I went through all the donations, put the bags together and bought the things that we needed to fill out each bag. It was so much fun! The photo below is the day she dropped the donations off (the shelves at the back are full of things donated as well.)
I've been making the bags up and dropping them off in batches, ensuring each one is brimming with good stuff. My last drop off will be this Friday (just slipping under the wire of the cut off date: Saturday), and it will take us to our grand total of 30 bags. Here are a few in their batches:
Of the thirty bags, five were for teenage girls - who also need sanitary supplies (and who often miss out in the present drives because people tend to give more for younger kids). The bags for teens have yellow ribbons so they can be sent in the right direction. Here's the contents of one of our yellow ribbon bags:
Do you have a favourite charity at Christmas? Or do you find it too busy and prefer to give at other times of the year? Or, if things are tight, which charity would you give to if you could?
My two girlfriends and I get together at each of our homes every year (since we live 2 hours apart), and we share our "freebies". The books I buy and win go to one girlfriend's mom's retirement residence for all to share, plus a few go to a women's shelter nearby. My girlfriend goes to time shares and has plenty of shampoos, conditioners, etc. - so we each take a few and the dozens of others go to the women's shelter. We all get free perfume packages at big outlet stores - none of us wear it, but we add those into the shelter box. We go online and get free samples constantly, so we share with each other and toss extras into the box. We pick up free toothpaste, brushes, floss, etc. and put that in the women's shelter box. One year, when my friend was explaining to the dental office about what she does with the extra supplies, the receptionist went in the back and grabbed two boxes with 38 tubes in each, donating them directly to the shelter. Now THAT was wonderful!
ReplyDeleteLaney, wow! That's all kinds of awesome. I love what you and your friends are doing and you've set off all sorts of ideas in my head. Thanks for sharing that with us! <3
DeleteRach this is such a wonderful thing to do. I was gunna do it last year and gunna do it this year and have been slack and just not... I will do it next year - its such a great idea.
ReplyDeleteAbout 5 or 6 years ago my sister and I with all our kids baked and iced 100 muffins for a homeless shelter for Xmas day. It was a wonerful if a little chaotic experience for out very privileged kids.
I have an automatic deduction every month for Amnesty Inernational. And I keep wanting to add Medicins San Frontier to that too and keep forgetting so I really must organise that too!
Amy, that muffin idea is fabulous! I especially love that it was such a learning experience for your kids. Also, Amnesty International and Medicins San Frontier are two of my very favourite charities - great thinking!
DeleteI did It's In the Bag last year and LOVED putting together the collections of goodies in each bag. Somehow I've managed to miss it this year so I am now kicking myself. Your bags are every kind of awesome and I love that you involved others via your sisters' workplace. Truly amazing.
ReplyDeleteLike Amy, I've been meaning to add MSF to my regular donations list (I have several) and this is my trigger. I am now doing it!
Bron, I'm with you - it *is* fun putting bags together! Very cool about adding MSF to your regular donations list. I love the work they do.
DeleteHU Rachel
ReplyDeleteI have loved following this one Facebook and did check out where the drop off places where but there were none that close to me and with not being able to drive still it was a bit hard but I will be doing it next year I think it is a fabulous idea and I have in the past bought a present or two for the kids tree at the local stores like KMart ect :0
Well done
Have Fun
Helen
Helen, we can't do all the things all the years - maybe next year they'll have a drop off closer to you. Very cool about the kids' tree presents in the past - they're a fabulous idea!
DeleteWhat a lovely thing to do, Rachel. My beautician has been running a drive too so I dropped some odds and end over to her, but I think making the bags up would be a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteWe have a few charities we give to regularly, but nothing special for Christmas. I might have to look at doing something special next year. :-)
Michelle, making the bags up was muchly fun! I like the idea of doing something extra at Christmas, but it's really busy for some people, so giving at different times of the year works better for them. I say, whatever works! :)
DeleteOh, Rachel, those bags look amazing and will make such a difference. You're a star!
ReplyDeleteI've been an Amnesty International supporter for thirty years- fun fact: I once met one of the people I'd been writing to the Russian government about after she was released- and she said all our letters had made a huge difference to both her in immeasurable support and in pressure on the government. Amazing.
I also volunteer for a cognitive decline/pre-alzheimers charity year round so I prefer to focus on these two charities and know we're making a small but real difference to peoples' lives.
Louisa, that story about the letters and the woman who was released just made me teary! And your other volunteering sounds awesome.
DeleteI totally agree about focusing on one or two and making a difference. I've seen stuff about social media having a detrimental effect on support for charities / causes because people click like on a post or share it and feel like they've done their bit. Your approach *is* helping.
At Christmas because I have an insane number of birthdays among family and friends (including myself on Dec 17) to accomodate, I never have as much as I'd like to be able to support charities. I do still try to give a little to the local foodback since I know from my childhood and teen years how under pressure they can be.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned on facebook, I'd love to support this charity if they expand across the ditch or do similar for Woman's Refuge here.
Aside from that, away from Christmas my main charities that get the very little that I can afford are Medic Alert (I got my first medic alert bracelet sometime around 2002-2005ish so don't have to pay an annual fee like those who get them now, so choose to donate a little to them). If I can afford it when they run their annual appeal I also support the Wellington City Mission <- they run one of the local foodbanks but offer other support including budget advice and other things that can help people both get back on their feet and back to work.
I'm still figuring out my preferred causes. I seem to learn year on year who/which organisations I'm comfortable donating to.
The biggest change for me since I started my current job a little over 3 years ago is that if I'm donating to a NZ charity I ensure I donate at least $5 and get a receipt so I can claim a third of it back.
Lyn, you're doing amazing work! I love your reasoning for giving to the food bank, and it also has the personal feel of the bags that I worked on - directly giving for a basic need. In fact, you've inspired me - I'm going to check out what local food bank there is in my area.
DeleteVery good idea about the receipts!
Medic Alert is interesting - I didn't know they needed money. To be honest, I've never had anything to do with them. I'm off to google!
Not exactly familiar with the reasons that Medic Alert is structured as a charity here and also unsure if that differs from country to country.
DeleteStef's comment reminded me other form of donation I used to do. For many years I was a blood and then plasma donor. Two or so years ago they put me on permenant deferral because the combo my pain meds and the anti-coagulant used to enable the plasma donation process to go smoothly was causing issues with delayed clotting.
You may find you can't donate blood (even if your veins were in good enough condition). I know here generally once a person has had a transfusion they are unable to donate. Only know this because a couple of the volunteers who help with putting out the bikkies and putting cheese and vegemite on crackers for the afterdonation room are former donors who still wanted to contribute in some way.
I LOVE those ideas, Rachel! As for charities, we try to give year round when possible. A few we've supported for quite a few years--Charity: Water, which brings fresh water to communities all around the world; Second Harvest Food Bank (we donate locally, but there are a couple branches in the US, and many similar food banks nationwide); InnVision Shelter Network, a local group that helps families in transition; Today's Youth Matter, a group that gives at-risk youth a chance to be mentored and enjoy camps and other activities they really don't typically get offered... We also support a child via Compassion International. So many groups and people that can use a hand now and year round!
ReplyDeleteFedora, that's a very cool list of charities that you support!
DeleteYou know what? I think romance readers are the best kind of people! :)
That's so lovely, Rachel. And nice that you put something together for the teen girls as well. I'm sure they'll be thrilled :)
ReplyDeleteHmm in terms of charities I most often give during Breast Cancer Awareness month or on Daffodil Day, because that's a cause very close to my heart. But I'm actually going to start donating blood. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time but I'm not the best with needles. So it's taken a while to work up the courage, but I'm going to bite the bullet this month.
Stefanie, that's such a cool thing to do! I'm not allowed to give blood (my veins are in bad condition after lots and lots of use during all my hospital stays) but I know it's something that's really needed. In fact, I needed a couple myself right after the accident that started the hospital stays, so I think you're a hero!
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