How You Can Help

The recent tornadoes in Alabama and Missouri are heartbreaking. My first reaction to the news of the most recent storm on Sunday night was to say a prayer of thanks that everyone I love is safe. My second was to wonder how I could help.

Like many people, we don't have the money to write a large check. Actually, we don't really even have the money to write a medium check. What we do have, though, is a stockpile. Tonight I went through the stockpile and pulled out lots of items that could be useful to the people of Joplin.

Many of these items were free samples or things I purchased for free or for very little money. The retail value of everything is more than I could afford to donate. But since I'm using things from my stockpile, I'll only have to pay to ship the box. Once I got to thinking about it, I decided that, in some ways, donating nonperishables might be better than giving cash, anyway. If you'd just lost everything you own in a tornado, would you rather someone gave you $5 and said "go find a store and buy some soap so you can bathe," or would you rather they said "here's some soap, go bathe". That's what I thought.

Once I began packing a box, though, I realized that it wasn't all going to fit. I also kept thinking of more things around the house that I'd like to send: wipes, baby clothes, disposable nursing pads, ziploc bags, granola bars. So now I think I want to send two boxes. Which leads me to the reason for this post...

If any of my Sweet Home area readers are interested in donating items to those affected by Sunday's tornado in Joplin, MO, please let me know. I'll put together as many boxes as needed. Money Saving Mom had a great post today about what to send and where to send it to. Please check it out, because I guarantee you have at least a few things at home that you could include. If you're not from the Sweet Home area, but still want to help, please do! The post includes all the information you'll need.

I'll be at work tomorrow and Thursday, at Wells Fargo in Sweet Home, from 10:00 to 3:00. You can drop any donations off there. If you can't make it during that time, but still want to give, leave a comment and we can work something out. Also, please consider giving a couple dollars to help cover the cost of shipping. I'm going to use those flat rate post office boxes, but they're about $7 or $8 each. Keep in mind that many people lost everything. Even the most basic items, things that you could easily spare, are needed. 

I'll take a picture of all the items I collect and blog about it later this week, so everyone can see. Thanks in advance for your generosity!