Hello - My name is Debby, and I am a pack rat! That said I find it unbelievably easy to "shop my closet" every few months. Lucky for me ... I just moved and I decided I would "shop my closet" BEFORE moving. Very unusual for me as I tend to have these enlightening thoughts after the fact.
I've found I get more pleasure from this simple act than any other charity work I do, except maybe Girl Scouts. You see I wear plus size clothing, and like every other store in the world Goodwill has very little to offer in plus sizes for women. So I find not only do I get the rush of donating to a good cause, I get to help out the women in my "group" with some decent clothes. I rarely wear items out, only shorts, jeans and work shirts and I don't send those off to the Goodwill.
Fortunately for me this last time I purged my closets I was able to let a new friend, who has been going through some rough times, go through the clothes and take whatever she could use. This is the first time in over a year she has had a pair of jeans. They wore out and she hasn't been able to replace them. Her husband had gotten sick with a type of immune diffeciency disorder and they where struggling to keep food on the table for their 3 gorgeous kids. I had no idea, I just take new jeans for granted. I wear them out at work, I buy a new pair. I might have to wait for pay day, but I DO get a new pair.
This past winter I sent about 4 bags of sweatshirts, sweaters and sweatpants (all plus sizes) to a homeless shelter in Toledo OH. A friend from work is always collecting for the shelter, it's her favorite charity, besides Girl Scouts. So when I get a new coat, another pair of gloves or new scarf to go with that coat all the old stuff gets bagged up and sent to the homeless shelter.
One of my favorite things to do when I'm at the dollar store is to buy 2 or 3 pair of mittens or gloves to send with all the used stuff. You can never have to many pairs of gloves in the midwest!
So come on people, how many pairs of jeans do you really need? You know you won't even be wearing them during the summer months so bag 'em up and send 'em on their way to a homeless shelter, a womens shelter or the Goodwill. What better way to reduce, reuse, recycle!
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Comments: 8
I remember, after I had my gastric bypass surgery in 2003, I belonged to this awesome website www.obesityhelp.com where many other people had surgery as well, or were waiting to have surgery. I found someone willing to meet me in a nearby city & I donated like 3 big bags of the clothes that didn't fit me anymore. It felt so wonderful to be able to give these items away to someone that could really use them. All I asked is that when they were done with them, or after they had their surgery....would they consider doing the same sort of donating.
That way no one even had to pay for anything - it was a great feeling~