Get Organized, Help Your Neighbor
If the new year has brought with it a desire to get more organized, why not dispose of items in a waythat benefits others or at least has the least effect on the local landfill? Hereare some ideas:
Used Bibles and Christian literature. I contacted theBible League about donating my teen’s kiddie Bibles, and they sent me to LovePackages (lovepackages.org). This ministry has a video posted onYouTube that takes viewers on a tour of the warehouse where they recycleBibles, Sunday school materials, VBS literature, and tracts. Each year theysend millions of pounds of literature overseas. And they even have a dormitorywhere groups can stay as they volunteer. You can ship your used materials to:Love Packages, 220 Union Street, Butler, IL 62015. But you also might want totake a team to Illinois. In addition, our local homeless mission constantlyrequests Bibles, especially large-print editions.
Cotton fabric. My sister loves to sew, so when sheaccumulates cotton scraps, she makes pillowcases for the local women’s andchildren’s shelter. She has also made some baby blankets for the PregnancyResource Center. At the start of a new elementary school semester, she pulleddown fabric she had on one of her bulletin boards, washed it, and transformedit into more pillowcases. If you have fabric or gently worn pillowcases you'reno longer using, why not put them to good use? Or maybe you should host a craftnight for sewing some. They’re about the easiest thing possible to make.
Electronics. I found anelectronics store near me that disposes “greenly” of used VCRs, turntables,cassette players, and other electronics; it also pays for used iPods. FYI: They paymore for items that come with cords and aren’t personalized.
Phones. Collect used phones asa fundraiser. Or benefit the troops. Cell Phones forSoldiers is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing deployed andreturning troops cost-free methods to communicate with family while serving inthe United States military.
Laptops. Our local men’shomeless shelter constantly requests used laptops to aid in their job-training ministry.
Eyeglasses. I had three pairs of drug-store reading glasses and somecheap, non-prescription sunglasses cluttering my purse and nightstand. As itturns out, people living near the equator need sunglasses to shield their eyes,and the glasses don’t have to be prescription. I grabbed a padded envelope andsent my contribution to New Eyes for the Needy. They’re at 549 Millburn Avenue,Short Hills, NJ 07078. The shades and specks you send can help kids succeed inschool, enable a senior to read medical labels, or help an adult land a job.How hard would it be to put an announcement in your church bulletin and stick abox in the foyer for the collection of used glasses?
A friend shared, “Last year when we went to Burundi in EastAfrica, I collected about 100 pairs of generic reading glasses in differingstrengths. Our team set them out on a table at the women's leadershipconference we were teaching and let the women try them on and find the strengththat allowed them to read their new Bibles better. One woman had not been ableto read for years for lack of glasses, and she was in tears! It was sobering tome (since I have several pairs scattered around my house because I'm alwaysneeding a pair) that something so simple for me to pick up at the grocerystore, even, could be literally life-changing for this precious servant of God.”
Doing these things can cost nothing and clear out space whilebenefiting others. What stuff do you have lying around that could make adifference in someone’s life?