So, my husband and I have been talking for a while about helping those who are in need. Neither of us like to give money where it can potentially be misspent but we wanted to do something genuinely useful for those who are truly in need.
We came up with the idea because I was talking to him about how very much I hate giving MONEY out at a stop sign, or whatever, but feel a genuine desire to help.
My kind and thoughtful husband has gone and bought deli food for the homeless vet by WalMart that had a sign that said "Hungry" - but that's only one meal.
The idea kind of came from two things: a desire to not give money, and the idea for a "new mommy" hospital kit that I thought about making for a few friends having babies a while ago. I tweaked the contents a little bit about researching what homeless people had access to in a shelter, but may still need. And then I did a little more reading on the kits that some others have put together. Then we went to see what we could find with an emphasis on shelf-stable foods that didn't need heating or utensils to eat.
The toiletries idea came from the little things that you take for granted... until you don't have them anymore. A toothbrush and toothpaste, Chapstick and Kleenex were some of those things I would always like to have and that seem like luxuries rather than essentials.
Then, as the weather is changing, having a warm hat and gloves seemed appropriate. We thought about socks, but then we'd have to worry about men's/women's sizes, and we wanted these goodie bags to work for either gender.
We went shopping yesterday and made up a few "goodie bags" with items that could usually be found (relatively) inexpensively but would make an impact on the recipient.
Our kits include:
a fleece-lined hat,
gloves,
granola bars,
cheese & crackers,
cookies,
herbal tea,
fruit snacks,
Kleenex,
Chapstick,
a pack of gum,
cinnamon and butterscotch hard candies
and a toothbrush and toothpaste in a travel kit.
I sorted them all into equal piles, and then put into paper gift bags that were 2/$1 at the local Dollar Tree. I tied them shut with ribbons, and included an encouraging card. Now we will distribute them to folks who are in need.
The text of the cards I got from another site doing a similar project, though I altered it as it was a touch religious. So I made it more neutral and added a quote. :) Mine read:
"Here is a little goodie bag for you:
You may be down on your luck right now, but this little bag is here to remind you that you are worth SO much, that there are people who care about you, and that there is always hope. Have a beautiful day!
Encouragement to others is something everyone can give. Somebody needs what you have to give. It may not be your money; it may be your time. It may be your listening ear. It may be your arms to encourage. It may be your smile to uplift. Who knows? -Joel Osteen"
Here are the goodie bag contents "in process"
(I added a few more things later as I got them put together)
And here is the completed set with the card and ribbons to hold everything together.
Hopefully these will be appreciated. We budgeted $100 and spent just a little under that to make nine bags. (We were shooting for 10, but there were only 9 travel toothbrush kits on the shelf so we made do with that! LOL!)
When I was in college, I was part of the Golden Key Honors Society and we served meals at the homeless shelter, did highway clean-up, sang Christmas carols in the hospital and other service projects, so I really like doing these sorts of things, though without someone else coming up with the ideas I typically just donate to Red Cross, The Humane Society and my special favorite, Rolling Dog Ranch. I also donate to Lupus research for my sister-in-law, did the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and always try to pick my (running) races that support breast cancer (Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure) or cancer research, or another charity. I even ran one to stop sex trafficking! So I'm definitely service-oriented. Here it seems as though most of those are through the church, so I wanted to come up with an idea that just my husband and I could do on a modest budget!
Someday we hope to do even more charity work, but for right now, it was a great start! I truly look forward to distributing these bags, and now I can keep my eye out for sales on some of these items so we can make more in the future!
My heart is so happy! <3
