So I live in the Lansing/East Lansing/Okemos area of Michigan and I have some things I'd like to give away to a needy family for Christmas. My problem is that I don't have a lot of luck or good experiences with the goodwill locations in the area, especially with the way my state is behaving with the China Virus.
I come from a very low income family, so I treated all my stuff like gold because I wouldn't be able to afford to replace anything if it broke. So I was cleaning out my closet this week and found about a quarter of my old dragon megablocks collection from high school and the timing gave me the idea. There's a bunch of stuff I've had for over a decade that I kept in great condition, but I haven't used or seen in that time. I figure I should find a better home for it.
I was hoping you guys might know of a better method of getting some things to a needy family for Christmas than local goodwill? I don't want any money for any of this because I want it to go to a family that really can't afford anything. I just need to find a family interested and meet at like a Meijer parking lot or something. How would I go about this? I know it's close to the big day, but I still want to try. I don't have family really and none of them live in Michigan, so I'd like to participate in the holiday this way this year.
I have:
-Two 18 gallon totes and another two ice cream buckets of dragons and their castle pieces and men
-Two star wars lunchboxes
-Two Batman (Dark Knight vehicle on one and the bat logo on the other) lockboxes. No keys anymore so they won't lock, sorry
-A small plushy fox
-Plushy blue baby chick
-Plushy blue beany baby hammer head shark
-Three strings of unused icicle Christmas lights (the sort you'd see in a preteen's bedroom as an attempt at "fancy" decor)
-A fuzzy leopard spot throw blanket
-Two sets of Star Wars stickers. (New/unused)
-How to Train Your Dragon coloring book (New/unused)
-One deck of Uno cards
-Nintendo Switch and Nintendo DS game cases
The star wars stuff is the original trilogy and the prequels, not the most recent three with Rey.
I also have pictures too in case the family wants to see any of it and make sure it's in the condition I say it is before anything happens if that helps.
Thank you for any help and pointers you guys can give! I'm hoping we can get this worked out!
Edit: I'm new at formatting, hopefully I fixed it.
Consider contacting a priest or pastor associated with a school. They know needy families in their area. Many years ago I did something similar and now I do it every year.
I wouldn't have thought of that, I'm not too religious. Thank you for that angle! I'll ask around and see who has that sort of contact.
I applaud you for your true Christmas spirit. We need more people like you in this world! You will never regret giving to those less fortunate. In my younger days I would actually go out on Christmas eve and leave presents on doorsteps of people I knew from various sources were struggling. They never knew who it came from and I wanted it that way. My kids now do the same. Merry Christmas and God Bless You!
Do you have a local food pantry, a small one, that gives gifts to its clients? Mine puts wish stars on a paper tree at the local post office and people can pick which wish they want to fill.. you might also try calling your local welfare office, in your town hall, or your nearest church.
Town hall is a great idea too! Wouldn't have thought about the wellfare office. Mine has been a bit rough around the edges the last few months. If the church idea doesn't work out, I'll give them a call after.
It'd be so much easier if the stars were a thing, but from what I've seen so far all of that is severely hindered because of virus regulations and places needing to stay closed or minimal occupancy.
I second churches, they generally know people. nextdoor is an option too, it is a social media type thing and just about every neighborhood has one. You might also call your area schools, many times schools are aware of which families need help even if they are not in person right now.
Another option is contacting your local library. Our library has an "ask a librarian" type thing, and libraries often have a list of organizations like homeless shelters and other community outreach. Every larger city has homeless shelters for women/families, and those kids might like toys.
I grew up out in the country surrounded by corn fields. We didn't have a local library within a 30 minute drive. I honestly didn't know they did anything more than just loan books. That's actually pretty cool they would keep info like that too.
I learned something today, thank you for that!
Yep. Depending on city size, libraries do all kinds of nutty things. Some loan out tools too (ours doesn't). Videos, video games, all kinds of stuff. And if they don't have a list themselves, they would know who does in your area.
I forgot to mention radio and TV stations. Our local morning AM talk radio dude has been hooking up people in need with services all during lockdown and pandemic on his facebook page.
I'm sorry, this isn't facebook. Or Nextdoor Digest. Ask local people. Ask Toys for Tots. (the US Marines run one).
I've been canceled by everyone minus one guy in my area, which is why I was asking here for ideas since his family didn't want anything. I have nobody else to ask, especially with the social isolation forced on us right now.
I also don't have a Facebook or know what Nextdoor Digest is. I didn't think it would be a problem asking here for help since people seemed to be community driven and I felt they'd be better help than someplace on social media that's plagued with terrible people. I had a trust in the people of this site that I don't for theirs.
Another commenter suggested a priest, which I'll do.