Not another pad...
When my daughter was little I taught her that when she bagged up her too-small clothes and no longer played with toys, she was helping those in need because the clothes and toys were donated to the Salvation Army. When she started receiving a monthly allowance, a portion was earmarked for charity and she chose the charity at the end of the year. I’ll admit that I picked two charities based on her interests and let her pick which one. The first year she donated to a local animal rescue and included a letter with the check.
It is important that we teach our children to help those , even animals, less fortunate than we are. The best way to teach this is to model the behavior. I make donations to charities that I believe in every year and in the past I have explained to my daughter why I chose these charities. Heck, one of them is my high school. Another is the March of Dimes. I was born (as is the belief) with profound hearing loss in my left ear. I spent my school years and even college sitting in the front of the classroom to ensure I heard what the teacher/professor said. I donate because I don’t want a child to have to go through what I did. At the time of my diagnosis there was no assistive device for my hearing loss, today there is.
The problem is that once you donate to a national charity, you get inundated with freebies such as address labels, pads, and in the case of the March of Dimes, dimes. Some charities send you stuff in the hopes that upon receiving it you will make a contribution. Starting last June, I began recording what I received. I kept a record pretty much to this June (so a full year).
38 sets of address labels
10 2021 calendars (the number of 2022 already exceeds this)
10 pads (already way more for 2021)
20 misc (including but not limited to bookmarks, cards, maps, socks, etc.)
No one needs that many address labels or pads. If there hadn’t been a pandemic the dimes would have landed in a Salvation Army red bucket during the holidays (I saved them for this year). And for the record, I use the maps for wrapping paper (great for kids). I have unsuccessfully looked for a way to stop the onslaught of Charity freebies, since most land in recycling or trash. Most people have stainless steel appliances so magnets are a waste and become landfill fodder. I decided that in December I will do a curb alert for 2022 calendars and pads (not with my name on them). I was impressed that the March of Dimes sent a pad where every other sheet is a “shopping list” and the other sheets are a “to-do list.” Right up my alley as a parent coach focused on productivity and stress management.
But I am still left with how to reduce these unwanted freebies. If anyone has any advice, please, please tell me. Socks, anyone?
(P.S. Sylvie received one set of address labels, one pad and 4 miscellaneous.)