I read the obituaries every day, which may seem morbid, but you never know when a familiar name will appear or when you might learn something about life. Last week I read a heartwarming story about a little girl with a big heart. Her name was Lauren and she died last week at the age of 11 of complications from childhood asthma. Her dream had been to become a doctor and save lives. While she did not live to become a doctor, she did save five lives in the end. Her parents chose to donate all of her healthy organs to people who needed them. What a powerful message that is to all of us! Thank you to her family for making the decision to have their daughter live on through others.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Find new homes for clothes for Kids
Why have a garage sale when you can find new homes for your like-new clothes?
A friend of mine, through a long and winding road, wound up with a small mountain of children's clothing sized infant to 4T. She washed the entire heap, dried them and folded them, and sorted them into neat piles. The owner of the clothes dropped by and reclaimed a few pieces, leaving the rest for disposal. The remaining pieces filled 19 boxes and one paper bag, which was filled with socks. My friend asked me what she should do -- take them to a thrift store or find an organization to give them away. Well, I found a place for her - our local Head Start program.
Our program serves 125 families in the lowest economic rung of the ladder. We have a teen age mother program in which we care for 34 babies while their mothers go to school and attend parenting classes. These are the families who need health, dental and vision care, along with food, clothes and sometimes shelter. New clothes are not an option for most of them. Imagine the fun these parents and their children will have choosing nearly new clothes from this enormous collection!!
Most families in this situation can use clothes for everyone. There are organizations that provide like-new clothes for parents going to job interviews or who need them for work. You can donate your prom dresses to groups who arrange for girls to receive them, so they can go to prom. Almost anything you have used in your life will be useful to someone else.
The next time you have some nice clothes you no longer need or wear, think about giving them to an organization that will get them to those who need them, for free. Thrift stores are great, too and the profits from these stores go to help the need as well, so don't count them out. However, I encourage you to seek out places where the clothes will be distributed to those who need them first.
A friend of mine, through a long and winding road, wound up with a small mountain of children's clothing sized infant to 4T. She washed the entire heap, dried them and folded them, and sorted them into neat piles. The owner of the clothes dropped by and reclaimed a few pieces, leaving the rest for disposal. The remaining pieces filled 19 boxes and one paper bag, which was filled with socks. My friend asked me what she should do -- take them to a thrift store or find an organization to give them away. Well, I found a place for her - our local Head Start program.
Our program serves 125 families in the lowest economic rung of the ladder. We have a teen age mother program in which we care for 34 babies while their mothers go to school and attend parenting classes. These are the families who need health, dental and vision care, along with food, clothes and sometimes shelter. New clothes are not an option for most of them. Imagine the fun these parents and their children will have choosing nearly new clothes from this enormous collection!!
Most families in this situation can use clothes for everyone. There are organizations that provide like-new clothes for parents going to job interviews or who need them for work. You can donate your prom dresses to groups who arrange for girls to receive them, so they can go to prom. Almost anything you have used in your life will be useful to someone else.
The next time you have some nice clothes you no longer need or wear, think about giving them to an organization that will get them to those who need them, for free. Thrift stores are great, too and the profits from these stores go to help the need as well, so don't count them out. However, I encourage you to seek out places where the clothes will be distributed to those who need them first.
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