PLFXpert 0 #1 November 16, 2009 This thread is open to all your gift ideas that "give twice". With the tough economic times, donations to charitable organizations dwindle. Every year, my goal is to give a little more than the previous year to the various organizations I support. This year, I will--thankfully--be giving what I did last year, but I could not help but think what else I could do. It occurred to me, I already had ideas of things I wanted to get my hunny and friends and family for Christmas. Why not see if I can purchase those items through a vendor that supports those organizations? I know a lot of DZ.comers support Best Friends Animal Society (as do we) and I have to say I was impressed with some of the options in their store. I bought the fleece jacket for myself pictured on the home page of The Best Friends Store. It just arrived, along with a few purchases for friends and family. Use this space to share gift ideas and places to go to purchase gifts that "give twice" this holiday season. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #2 November 16, 2009 Also for the animal-lover: Dog Lovers Wine. P.S. There is also a cat lovers, horse lovers and nature lovers wine club, all supporting animal shelters and rescue groups. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LisaH 0 #3 November 16, 2009 http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=gen_store_main&s_src=RSS09000E005&s_subsrc=RCO_FrontPagePanelBe yourself! MooOOooOoo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skootz 0 #4 November 16, 2009 Bead for Life is excellent. I've hosted their parties for years. I've never heard a negative word about them and the way the money goes back to improve and teach the women new jobs skills is wonderful. http://www.beadforlife.org/indexb.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CSpenceFLY 1 #5 November 16, 2009 Fruit Cake. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LisaH 0 #6 November 16, 2009 Re-gifting doesn't count. Be yourself! MooOOooOoo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #7 November 16, 2009 Neat! Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silent_pumpkin 0 #8 November 17, 2009 I like The Hunger Site. They have many interesting/hand-made gift items for sale and every purchase helps fund food donations. You can also donate in a more traditional fashion and choose where your donation goes from clean water, food, education, etc. The Hunger Site: http://shop.thehungersite.com/store/category.do?categoryId=253&siteId=220page=1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #9 November 17, 2009 Ok, I'll say that I attempt to not be a packrat. Opinions vary. I just don't like to trash usable stuff and people give me stuff. (My current set of living room furniture was given to me.) Anyway, in the last 6 months, I acquired 2 extra tvs. I helped people move, others got a new one and gave me the old one. They sat on the floor for a while. So, on Wednesday, the Salvation Army drops by with a truck. Out goes two old beds and the two tvs, plus some bags of clothes. On Saturday, I am talking to some movers and they have a nice tv set that they will give me. No charge. On Sunday, I told someone at the dz and their tv was broke, so I gave them my current set. Anyway, don't toss stuff in the trash (especially electronics). Someone else can use it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #10 November 17, 2009 Yup! I click on The Animal Rescue Site each day and have made a purchase or two from them in the past. Recently the formerly-mentioned Best Friends Animal Society won $100k from the site who partnered with Petfinder.com. It is a wonderful website for multiple causes; I would encourage everyone to choose at least one to click on each day and give for free! Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #11 November 17, 2009 I have a set area in the garage I store things that would be useful to another. Once the area is full, I send Bill out to load up his truck and haul it all to Goodwill. This happens more often than not, as Bill's mom is a habitual estate-saler constantly sending us home with a bunch of stuff that never makes it through the door to my house. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #12 November 18, 2009 Quote Bill's mom is a habitual estate-saler My dad liked yard sales and craft fairs. He never got the idea that no one sells a working coffee-maker. He used to give me one on a recurring basis to replace the last broken one that he gave me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #13 November 18, 2009 Oy vey--not to hijack my own thread, but--I had the most fun having my very own garage sale about a year ago. We had one closet and an attic full of stuff that needed to go. We advertised and put up signs. We "opened" at 6:30 a.m. and closed by Noon. At 11 a.m. I put out a sign advertising "everything $1" which was great because we had larger items people were traveling back for that then purchased all the things I wouldn't sell for $2 for $1. By Noon, most everything had sold, and Bill loaded the rest into his truck and headed toward Goodwill. I had SO much fun! But, the point of my awesome story is everything we sold worked. We could not give VCRs away, but I had cheap Radio Shack cameras, etc. and never-viewed-DVDs that sold for a killing. The guy who bought my RS camera was SO cute. He was like 60-years-old and rode up on his Harley and insisted a disk must have come with it. I retorted, if one did, I would have it for sure, and would look in my disk arsenal. I did, and there was, and I presented it to him and he bought it leaving us both very happy. Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFXpert 0 #14 November 18, 2009 EBay'ers, 'tis the season to add 10% or more to your favorite charity when selling. Another thought: Attend a charity auction! Sure, you might have to dress up a bit, but you might be surprised at the range of things up for auction and their prices. For example, my hunny's company advertises their service on the radio. Recently, at a local auction his company purchased radio time from a popular radio-station that had donated X amount for a low starting price. He ended up paying about what they would normally pay, but instead the money went to the charity. Win-Win! I love silent auctions. P.S. Charity events/auctions are also great because they often benefit local divisions and it is an opportunity to meet like-minded locals. Networking! Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites