Helping out needy families with gently used clothing and toys. Do you need help or can you offer help?

There is also "freecycle" online mailing list. You can check to see if there's a network in your county.
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Welcome! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 5,082 groups with 9,241,491 members around the world. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on 'Browse Groups' above the search box. Have fun!

[link to www.freecycle.org]

One time I posted for several years worth of kids clothing I needed to get rid of..she didn't have room to take it all. A lady with 5 kids came and stuffed her van with stuff.. she wrote back later that she was able to outfit 3 of her girls for the year with that.

I just had Salvation Army come and get about 12 large boxes of stuff and a bike, etc. Cleared out about a third of the stuff from my garage.

There have been years when all I could afford for Christmas was to take the kids to a thrift store and let them pick out what they wanted.

Kids grow out of stuff so fast anyway, paying $50 for a pair of jeans just does not make sense, it's a luxury.

This link is awesome!!!!!!!! Thx!!!!! This is how i will proceed!!!!!

What's going on here these past few days, is nothing short of amazing!
I was in absolute tears yesterday :)) I hope you all realize the impact of what you're doing for these families. And how it's paying forward, and forward...I sit here in awe.

I have used clothes and maybe some toys. Mine are ages 6, 2, and 1 so we still get good use out of our toys in all the ranges.

Ya whatever. If you want to give please make sure it is to an organization that directly feeds and cloths the needy. Free.

???
And.....

This is sort of a strange request but I'm in need of size 13 hearing aid batteries for my daughter. Please PM me if you can help. Thank you and God bless.

Wow, cool thread !
I'll see what I can round up and send you a pm.
Are you looking for anything specific right now ?

Mostly children's clothes and toys.
Thank you

Love the idea, OP! Happy to help anyway I can.

This is a great thread!!

If anyone cant send things due to shipping costs, the next best thing is finding a womens shelter.

The shelters that house abused women and children usually put them up and help them to get a job and save enough money to get housing of their own. These women/children need everything, they usually leave with the clothes on their backs or maybe a suitcase.

They have to completely start over with everything. The shelters give them donations, they dont sell them to the public like goodwill and some other places, so it would be a great place to donate clothing, household items, vehicles, toys etc...

I have a small business selling stuff on Ebay and love to use the A or B regional boxes to ship items and you can order them for free, delivered right to your door, on the USPS website.

Here is a shipping calculator from the USPS to use as a quick reference too...

[link to postcalc.usps.com]

Another thing I have noticed ironically is sometimes it is actually cheaper, or only a few cents more, to ship priority mail (2-3 days) as opposed to parcel post (2-8 days).

I have never used FedEx but am going to look into it since I have learned it does get expensive to ship heavy items and also they are raising their prices again soon in Jan '13.


I'm so happy to see the responses this thread is getting! Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside! lol

Sadly I no longer have any gently used items of this nature. If I did, I would certainly contribute. This is such an awesome thread! Such a truly lovely thing to do for others. And so, in order to help keep it visible, because I can't do much else right now

You don't need to understand. See, even if 2 people help out, that's 2 families that were given hope and whose children will learn that kindness extends to strangers as well. Even if only one single person is inspired to pay it forward when they're able to, that's one person who was given the gift of hope and will hopefully inspire at least one more person to do something kind for someone else.
Let me explain because you're not the first and I'm sure you won't be the last person to disagree.

The birthday party was a suggestion and while those funds will end up being used to help ship stuff out, I think it's a shame to make anyone feel like they shouldn't spend their money on helping a child have a "nice" bday for once. To some $100 for a birthday party is excessive, for some it's not enough. Some children never get to have one at all. I encourage anyone who wants to donate even a $5 gift certificate to a restaurant or grocery store to do so if it moves you. No one has lost their sense of reality, our sense of reality is exactly what helps us realize how many people are in badly need of our help. No, it's not these kids' fault that they're in this situation, and it's not always the parents' fault, either. I have not been contacted by any "welfare queens" or anything like that but we are helping actual families, with both parents, single moms and even single dads. Not one of these folks asked for anything other than children's clothing/shoes in specific sizes; when I asked for their own size in case I could find things in my closet to send, it's like pulling teeth, they just want their kids to have some "new" clothes to wear and shoes that actually fit. The families we are currently helping aren't out to scam anyone, and we are happy to help them out.

I don't doubt for a second that the generous souls who have stepped forward to help a less fortunate family, do this for other people on a local level as well. I understand V-Honey will be using Freecycle, which I myself have used a few times and helps out on a local level. My experience was that it was hard for me to find takers for my items sometimes and also, a lot of people get these free items to resell them or for their thrift stores, so it's the same risk we take sending to a stranger in a different state. I have donated clothes before to those donation boxes, only to find out they're being resold for a profit. Again, same risk. I have given clothes and shoes and household items to relatives, friends or people I knew who I thought needed it and came to find out later they gave it away, sold it or simply didn't use it. Do you really think a box of used clothes or toys, books, blankets, will make some "scammer" a lot of money? We aren't sending giant bags upon bags upon bags of stuff to every recipient, only what people can afford to give which in any case is appreciated by these folks.

I didn't want to give you a resume of my charity history, but I have been doing a lot of work with local shelters (abused women, homeless), volunteered my time and donated items to nursing homes and physically delivered meals and bottled water to local homeless individuals when budget has allowed. I have been doing this every year, for many years. I have gotten up early and chosen to spend my Thanksgiving feeding people in a soup kitchen before spending the rest of the evening with my family. Through my company, I have provided pro bono services for military veterans and when hiring out they and their families are always my first choice. I have also participated in sending care packages to soldiers or their families, helping fulfill teachers wishes through: donorschoose.org and I have been guilty of leaving anonymous bouquets of flowers around town whenever I spotted a military flag accompanied by a POW or MIA black flag (and in the early days of the Iraq war it was a very common sight, unfortunately), I would make time to stop by a store, purchase flowers and leave them at the foot of the flagpole. Why? Just to let the family know they are in our thoughts and prayers even if we are strangers. I've paid for someone's meal behind me in a drive thru lane. I've paid for soldiers in uniform at restaurants, I could go on and on. All done locally and regionally. I'm also a fine artist as my hobby/side job, and recently I made about 6 children paintings which I donated to my son's school's PPCD program (Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities). I have donated children's paintings to my local Children's Hospital. I have donated some of my original fine art to local churches (for auctions, raffles, etc to help raise funds), schools and hospitals as well as nursing homes or to a grieving family. Complete strangers. Don't come here and tell me to go help local, because you don't know me and you know nothing about me. I have been doing this for half my life and my neighbors and family are all well off enough not to need my help with this, thankfully.

I realize I won't change the world and that's not my goal, my goal is to simply plant the seed of kindness both in donors and recipients alike. To make sure that at least one child that is feeling cold because there's no money for clothes, gets to wear a coat or jacket, shoes that fit.
Do you understand many out there have enough to pay on a late mortgage and utility bills? When you have less than a hundred dollars left and you have groceries and gas to worry about, it's sometimes not possible; I know this because I have been there. I am a single mom, I have health issues and there have been times when although I had a home and bills were paid, I had little money left over to feed my family. I have gone without so my kids could eat. Some people are out in rural areas with no access to thrift shops or Goodwill and often times their family or neighbors aren't in much better situations. Everyone's situation is simply different and we are not G-d to pass judgment, you should pray that you and your family never have to go without.

No law says I am obligated to only help out only within my city or state boundary lines and if I want to extend my help to someone who needs it and I'm able to do it, I am going to do it whether people like you approve or not, and that's set in stone. Texans in general are known for always being one of the first to offer our help when it's needed (Katrina ring a bell?), we like helping others out and look out for one another. If others out there also able and want to help this way, I'm not going to deny them the opportunity to help someone who needs it and who has reached out to ask for it.
If you took the time to actually read through the entire thread instead of typing up a knee-jerk reaction-type post, you'd realize I encourage everyone who can't ship to post their location so they can help locally. If they choose to work that way or through alternate local channels, that is entirely up to them and the whole point of this is not to ship items and make people "spend money" (I see it not as money spent but as an investment in humanity and hope those children will someday do the same for someone else)but to inspire them to get rid of what we don't need and give it to someone who does. Look at many of the replies, people are saying they can't afford to ship out but will help someone local or regionally and then you have people who are fortunate to be able to say: "Let me know who needs help with shipping and I'll help pay for it" and that's their way of helping out. The beautiful thing about this country, is that we can do as we wish with the things we possess. If I choose to give a child in another state the gift of hope instead of buying me a new beanie hat or a new pair of boots or buying my kids another toy they don't need, you are NOBODY to tell me otherwise. You never know how you'll influence a child by doing something kind for his or her family. Imagine if we each "adopt" a family in need with small children to help, send stuff if we can, even if we can't always send used clothing and/or toys but also books, or birthday and Christmas cards or a handwritten letter. Can you imagine a child learning that a complete stranger out there actually cares about them?

I'm sorry reading this thread stirs up negative feelings within you; for many of us it's exactly the opposite.
My advice is to move on and seek a different topic to read. This wasn't intended to be a thread for just anyone to come in here and whine and spout out negative opinions but to help connect people who need help, with those who can and want to give it, locally or otherwise. If you have something kind to say, even if little or nothing else to offer, thank you for your support, we love having you here. If you disagree with what we're doing and want to present your self-righteous point of view, then I suggest you keep on movin' ... because I will delete your post and I will ban you from posting on this thread. Thank you.

If you feel guilt then that's your conscience and you should examine the reason behind it. I could be ugly like you and wish your parents had used better birth control but I'm actually glad people like you exist and pipe up with your hateful comments, and it only reinforces my belief in helping children NOT grow up to be like you.

No good deed goes unpunished, they say.

In every community they have a place that you can donate clothes, toys and food, the pantries. Most people know about them. That is also a good place to start.

They love it when you drop off baskets to the needy. There people can go and get what they need.

Check at your local community for the things you can donate.

Yes, giving to the local community is wonderful and i already do that when i can.

It was my opinion that this thread was created to GIVE TO THE GLP COMMUNITY, and i will certainly do that for a member or two who really need it. I'm already packing some things for someone suggested to me.

PLEASe OP, was this your intention? To donate to our community here? Because that is what i thought we were doing.

Wonderful suggestions are being posted thru different venues to help anyone in need, in our communities.

Are we helping our fellow GLPers or am i highly confused???

Thanks, Op

Thank you for your generosity MP, and all you have done. Thank you to my fellow posters here, too. It is true, that even the smallest action can make a difference, and plant seeds of healing and good for the future.

time for a little

You guys are really getting hung up on the $100 birthday - personally, I don't see anything wrong with giving a kid a great birthday, especially one that hasn't had one in awhile, if ever. I don't recall the exact post, but really, $100 is not that much these days, that gets you a cake, some ice cream and a few gifts. Is that really so terrible? Geez. Making a kid happy on their birthday and making them feel special is priceless. I get paid next week and will contribute to this if it hasn't been fulfilled by then.

Anyway, I sent out a little package today and it made me really happy to do so. I wish it could have been more, but I sent what I could.

And as a reminder, I posted earlier in this thread - I am in Indianapolis and have a ton of teen girl clothing if anyone is around this area I could deliver it or meet somewhere.

Since I have a free account I am unable to respond to private messages. To the generous person who offered to send my daughter the hearing aid batteries, Could you please email me @ [email protected]

Thank you very much and God Bless you!

It was started to help out fellow GLPers in need, but those who are not able to ship items are encouraged to donate locally or regionally or try to find a recipient or family to "adopt" located near them. The point is really to inspire as many people as possible; if a GLPer sees this and they think of a needy family they know, or if it inspires them to visit a local shelter or do a selfless act for a stranger, that's every bit as admirable as someone willing to make an investment to ship items those in other states.

Trying to karma pin this, how do I do that?

Wonderful! So nice to see people helping each other out. I sincerely wish I could help but can't at the moment. Hopefully in a few months time I will be able to chip in.

Martian Princess you have an email from me.
Im in Canada let me know if you got it. You're a lovely human for doing this.


Thanks :)

+1000000000000

I come from a very wealthy family. I was disowned - in part- for being a believer in Christ Jesus. My children haven't received presents from them...since birth. we've truly been put out to dry.
BUT, it's been the kindness of strangers when my children had nothing and God's grace that got us thru.

Most of the very rich (I know too well) would just as soon see the minorities and/or poor die.

we are pariah's to them except when serving as maids, waitresses etc.

do not deny the blessing that will come to those who give.

the only thing we take with us is how we love and what we give.

bless you, OP for starting this thread. If nothing else, it will cheer up single parents like myself, just to know someone cares.

so far, the best development since 12/21/12 has been actions taken like yours, Trin's, brief etc.

It gives me hope for the common man and this world.

"this is what it means to be a Christian: when you see something wrong, you have to do something about it." Sister Mary Moylan TRIAL OF THE CATONSVILLE NINE

WOW Super Thread..
Here in the Orlando area is a lady and her Children who NEED help. They need money to keep their Electric on.
I have been out of work for months so Nothing I can do, but seen this thread @ Praying someone here can help her.
Write [email protected] for more info.

Thank You @ God Bless....

There is another site that I help out through all the time its called 2hands.org. [link to www.2hands.org]

Many people there are in need you can send some stuff nationwide as I do or even find people in your own area. They have a chat room, I am in there lots of times helping people find resources along with Cheyenne. Its a great place, and many in need even help others in need with used clothes and other things.

I noticed Christmas day that some were still looking for help, they never give up looking for help. I have helped many families there now for the past 3 years. This year I spent in total including the postage over $1000 on families. But there are so many still in need. Also make sure to check wish upon a hero. they also have folks in need there.

For those of you that Crochet, we also do a give away yearly to people in need of afghans, what we do is we ask people to crochet 4x4 granny squares and then we sew them together we call it the warm up America project. [link to angelfeathers-org.webs.com]

The physical address was taken down a few months ago because of a very nasty lady that hung around 2 hands but you can use the contact form if your interested in that. Also you can always join as an angel.

Last Edited by pmb1 on 12/29/2012 08:19 AM

i would really enjoy some of your gently used panties