Another successful year for Toys for Tots donation! 🎉
7-9 boxes and 2 unboxed toys!
I actually sorted them out this time and labeled the boxes to make it a little easier for the volunteers.
I had a couple boxes of Barbie’s I got at last years half off sale at work (SUCH a great sale!), bunch of LEGO’s again and then this year I was trying to get more toddler toys too.
Got a fantastic deal on two learning play sets (the blue boxes to the left) and was SO EXCITED!!
This isn’t everything either!
I knew that Ollie’s was an official donor to Toys for Tots, but for some reason it didn’t click until I went to look at something entirely different and saw the signs up that they were a drop off location too!
I did take this load to the warehouse directly for obvious reasons, but I also spent about $50-$60 on toys at Ollie’s too and put them in their boxes!
I’m not done yet because we still have the rest of November and December to go and guess who’s local B&N has Toys for Tots as their Holiday Book Drive recipient this year?
😁
I have a bunch of Rewards stacked up that I was going to use for toys, but I decided to use them for books instead this year!
I love Christmas time!
I will see everyone next week for a crafty post but until then, look up what charities and non-profits are in your area that directly benefit your communities and consider donating!!
I didn’t intend for this to happen and I completely blame my coworker who had one on hold and reminded me we had them, but!
We received a stencil kit for book page edges.
You know the prettiness that’s taken the publishing world by storm?
There’s a kit for that!(part of it ofc)
So I bought one…
It was only $6 with my discount or I wouldn’t have done it!
I wasn’t sure which book I’d try it on since I’ve obviously never done it before and didn’t want to ruin one of my favorite books.
I showed my mother though because it is exciting and she suggested I just buy a used book from one of the libraries around here and test it out that way.
However!
A better idea came to me after her suggesting! I have a couple of ARC’s at my disposal that would be perfect!
I don’t have to spend more money and it’s not like they can be sold so even if I still donate it to a Little Free Library it won’t be a problem!
I am still going to wait until I’m done with my last figure painting because after that I can take down the second table in my room and start getting the Billy Bookshelves for my books.
More space and more shelves!!
So exciting!!
Until next week my peeps, stay crafty and don’t forget to go vote!
The reason I didn’t post on time is because of a health thing… that only happens once a month for women, but has been causing problems the last couple years for me.
I am blessed and thankful to God for my blessings.
I’ve been praying and asking for help financially and not only did I get a raise this year, but I was also promoted.
That means I’ve been able to do some pretty cool things this year. Including donating to Helene survivors.
In addition to the pads from Sam’s, I also found some fantastic throws and blankets at Ollie’s. Not what I went out for, but certainly a much needed item with the temps going down now.
A good chunk of what I donated I already had. I’d started filling backpacks with things like socks, underwear, toothbrushes, etc… and planned to donate to a local shelter.
However, I kept forgetting to email the church and ask them for help. (I had really been wanting to donate to domestic abuse shelters, both for men and women, but for obvious reasons that kind of information isn’t readily available on Google.)
The Minnie Mouse suitcase I filled up last year and then couldn’t find the info I needed to donate it. Guess there’s a reason that didn’t happen.
I had to crop the picture because there were people in it that I hadn’t asked permission to post. They were volunteers helping a Plato’s Closet sort the donations.
The owner and a manager collected from 4 different sites and had partnered with Morgan Steel and Cooper Moving to get the donations to North Carolina.
An absolutely ENORMOUS thank you to Collierville Plato’s Closet!
If y’all haven’t yet, volunteers are still taking donations and a lot are active on social media letting people know what’s still needed.
This, and the Wyoming fires, shouldn’t be swept under the rug just because time passes and there’s celebrity drama.
Please don’t forget that it’s regular people who have made the most difference in this circumstances. Helping each other is a command from God for a reason.
Last month a local animal shelter I volunteer with posted that they needed more dog toys and asked if anyone had old ones they’d be willing to donate.
Y’all know me.(or do you?🤔)
I took the opportunity to check out the dollar store and they had some really good stuff!
This is about $100 worth of dog toys. There are some ball two-packs underneath and some squeaky toys too, don’t worry!
The pill bottles you see are all empty (labels taken off ofc) and ready to go. Some animal shelters take these as donations to help with medications for fosters and such.
Which is a great idea if you ask me! I initially was only using RX bottles and then I realized that regular Tylenol bottles would work too so I expanded!
I am still doing Toys for Tots (never gonna stop!), but I’ve had some fantastic ideas lately and it looks like my philanthropic endeavors will be expanding.
Considering how much I enjoy doing stuff like this I’m pretty sure this is my Gift.
If you didn’t know, Paul talked about Gifts that God gives us. Some people have the gift of leading, some prophesying, and some giving (there are more btw).