donations to food drives etc OT

[Guest guest]

This is the ime ofyear so many people donate to charities.

I have been thinking how we had at one time been on the recieving end. Here are

a few thoughts I had.....

Food stamps can get you food. Often people need things they canot get with

their food stamps....paper towels, dish soap, clothig detergent and fabric

softener, toilet paper, toothpaste, diapers and wipes garbage bags and kleenex,

and sanitary protection.

Often people who are having a hard tmee financially still have cameras,

videogame players, GameBoys. They often don't have- batteries. Film. Stamps to

mail thank you notes or cards to relatives. Phone cards to call loved ones who

live far away.

One of the harder tings for parents who are down on their luck is having to tell

their kids " no " to fast food or a movie.

Many people remembr young children when they donate toys, but often teens get

lost in the shuffle. When people do donate toys, they often forget batteries or

other parts to the gift that make the gift useable. Consumable parts. Extra

play doh for a play dh toy, Extra mixes for the Easy bake Oven.....extra

clothes for Barbie.

Young teens love make up items and new games for the game systems he might have

acquired before hard tims fell.SOme kids might already have a bike, but not a

lock or a helmet. They might have skates or a skateboard but not knee and elbow

pads.

Food baskets might contain a meat and potatos and fruit, but maybe a family

would welcome ingrediants to bake? Or a new set of dishtowels or oven mitts?

Last year our family was especially excited to take to the Mc house

ingrediants for the families staying there to make homemade cookies (we added a

couple recipes) and hot cocoa mix. It gave the people a chance to still do

something to fill time between medical procedures. - something they could do

together. We also brought batteries of all sizes and a few phone cards and some

Christmas cards and stamps and pens.

Had we more money, we considered a few disposable cameras and gift certificates

to have the film developed. We also brought a couple boxes of chocolates and

candy canes.