photo by Ali Edwards
Do you have extra toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, or medicines in your stash that you’ve picked up on a great deal? Consider donating some of these to the orphans in the Ukraine who have nothing.
Details are here. If you are interested in participating, please email Rebekah Wilson at rebekahwilson @ hopechestlegacy.com (remove spaces). Note: I know Rebekah personally so I can vouch that this is a legitimate need.
Also, I’d love to hear from those of you out there who have had an opportunity to share from your abundance with others recently. It is always so heart-warming and inspiring to hear stories of your giving hearts!
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I take a large pan of banana pudding to our local homeless shelter for chapel once a month and when our cupboards are running over with free/cheap stuff we just take it along. They are always grateful for whatever we have to offer.
Our homeschool group just did a diaper shower for one of our own. See the photo and comments on my blog. We also are working at Blue Star Mothers once or twice a month, packing Freedom Boxes full of toiletries, goodies, and letters for our soldiers overseas. Comment on my blog if you are interested in donating and I can send you info on what they need.
A couple weeks ago I was able to give about 3 big bags of personal products to go to the Hurrican Ike victims. I completely filled them with everything from Excedrin to Johnson’s Buddies soap to Kotex and PertPlus. Normally if the need arose, I would grab one or two extra things (and some clothing), but everything I packed was free toiletries. Truly, I wouldn’t be suprised it if was upwards of $75 to $100. I am a stay at home mom and it still amazes me how utilizing my time (i.e. clipping coupons, searching out deals), has allowed me to give more and save more at the same time.
We recently experienced severe flooding in Northwest Indiana. I heard through a forwarded email of a family with 4 small children who needed diapers, wipes, and baby food. I was able to get together with some friends who also “CVS” and we put together 40 pounds of supplies!!
I always put my ‘extra’ freebies from couponing in a big shopping bag. Then when my friends and family come over, I always hand it to them for some free ’shopping’!
I also mail things to my sister and her friends. They are all intercessory prayer missionaries in Kansas City, so they enjoy fun free things!
Our church has started a coupon ministry. We will be participating in Samaritan’s Purse shoebox ministry (many churches participate in this–Franklin Graham) and filling them with items bought with coupons. We will also use items purchased with coupons to help needy families throughout the year.Needy families don’t just need food and toiletries. We will also be able to help them with cleaning supplies and OTC meds. It makes our dollars go further!
A few months ago there was major flooding in Indiana, especially in the town I was living in. I gathered up toiletries and diapers and took them to the Red Cross shelter.
What a great cause! I’m definitely going to be donating some of my CVS deals as we move toward the holidays.
One of my favorite things about playing the CVS game is that it’s enabled me to put together some really great care packages for my family and friends (http://kitchendoor.wordpress.com/2008/09/26/care-packages-on-the-cheap/). My sister was so excited when she got hers, and there’s no way I would have been able to make it work without you. So thanks
One of my best friends is serving as a missionary in Papua New Guinea. I like to save extra things that I pick up to send to them. She was able to come to the States in August to bring her daughter to start college so I was able to spend some time with her. I made a gift box for her daughter to take to college and also one for my friend to take back to Papua New Guinea. There are many items that they cannot get in PNG so they really love to get them from home. One thing every missionary I know always wants is Kraft Mac and Cheese. They cannot get cheese products in other countries so they really miss these items. I also take extra items for our church pantry. I took extra Cascade after the Walgreens deal this summer and they were so happy to get it. Noone ever brings in this type of items.
if you are in the Omaha, NE area we are collecting new/nearly new prom/homecoming dresses for foster teen girls and dress shoes for foster teen boys – info will be on my blog this Saturday or Sunday.
Our family orders our personal care and cleaning supplies from a company that offer safe and natural products. We have for 4 or 5 years now. I have been giving the free products that I have been getting now (Thanks to you!) to a family I used to go to church with. This couple are elferly and instead of enjoying retirement…have taken in a lot of foster children through the years and have even adoted 5 of them so far. I LOVE their giving hearts and their love for children, I know my Father does too. I felt like he wanted me to call this family and ask if they would take these items off my hands. They were thrilled. And, I get to have the great fun of deal hunting for them!! It really is a lot of fun. Thank you for all of the great tips!
It was such a blessing to finally see God use the things I had been stocking up on.
I had just cleaned out my overload when my brother, who is a police officer, sent me an e-mail asking for household donations to take to the Galveston Police Officers who had lost EVERYTHING in the hurricane. Some of them were literally starting over so it felt wonderful to be able to contribute to them getting on their feet again after such devastation.
Thank you for posting this!! I’m new to reading your blog and have only been couponing for a couple of months. I know that I can send toothpaste, Tylenol, soap (I have enough Johnson’s Buddy Bars to last years! haha), etc. I’ve emailed Rebekah and I can’t wait to find out the steps to take to getting the supplies over to Ukraine!! Thanks again! -Dawn
Thank you for sharing this post! As couponers we always have an abundance of items that we can easily share with others who need them. I just did a post on my blog about this today – a local university is hoping to set up a clinic in Africa and needs medical items donated. Who doesn’t have lots of these (thank you, CVS)?
I personally donate lots to my church – although I’ll be sending things toward the new clinic now. It’s a good feeling to go into our church pantry and fill the shelves myself. We don’t have extra cash to give, but it’s easy for me to get deals and provide for families who need them.
I was pretty excited this week that I found a home for the many bottles of Robitussin and some glucose meters and a few other things. I am dropping them off this weekend and they will be taken by a bunch of volunteers including doctors & nurses over to China on the 12th. They will be given to many different orphanages. My little one is from China so I feel so blessed at being able to help other little ones out that still have not found their forever families. Some of the orphanages don’t even have heat so colds are common. I am hoping to pick up a few more items to send along before Sunday.
My parents operate a Salvation Army in Iowa so I give them all my extras and they pass it on to the needy. There were several people who lost a lot in the flooding so those little personal items really helped out! When you barely have enough for food, a toothbrush/toothpaste is a complete luxury!
I’ve been able to provide all of the toiletries for my in-laws who are on a very tight, fixed income. It gives them some extra funds to go towards the rising cost of food. Since they know I’m buying this stuff for just pennies, or even for nothing, they don’t feel bad taking it either.
i have given gift bags full to new moms and donated my extras to my churches food pantry.
Good Morning,
I just want to thank you for all that you do to encourage us to save money when we buy and to give out of our abundance:) My family has been so blessed recently with deals and extra rock-bottom bargains that I have felt compelled to give more. When taking our weekly food donation to the church, I simply add health and beauty products as well as over-the-counter medicines to the bag. It is a true joy to be able to share with others in such times that we live in and I am encouraged to shop more wisely each time that I go. I involve my children in shopping sensibly and packing the bags with donations so that they, too, might develop a sense of responsibility to help others around them. Thanks again for your wisdom and expertise in providing this help and encouragement with your blog, even when you do not feel great:)
Many people in Hurricane Ike’s path evacuated to my city, Austin, Texas. There were shelters in many of our local schools and community centers. I took all my toothpaste, soap and other toiletries to a shelter near my house. Everyone was so appreciative.
But, I usually donate my surplus to the battered women’s shelter and my local food bank. Some of my neighbors save their surplus all year and put them in shoeboxes and donate those at Christmastime.
Sharing with others is so much fun. Here’s my story. I work with a single mom who has three beautiful girls. They are a wonderful family and she inspires me so much. Recently her health went downhill for a bit and she had some added expenses. Some fellow cheap chicks and I decided to provide her some groceries to help her family. We were able to find the deals and share with her without really cutting into our pocketbooks.
Even now that she’s back on the mend, I find it second nature to share the wealth with her when I stumble upon a great deal. She doesn’t have time to shop the deals, but I do and that is one small way to provide practical assistance to my friend.
My dad’s retirement is not going quite as planned and due to some circumstances beyond his control he is broke. My sister and I stock his house with our abundance whenever we visit and I encourage him to “shop” in my pantry whenever he is at my house. We also do our best to “teach the old dog, new tricks” about how to shop smart. I also take things to a local food pantry regularly.
There is a small food pantry in our rural community, but it gets a lot of use, because times are hard for many families. When I first started couponing, it became evident right away that I could get more than we needed with very little expenditure. We have turned that into a learning experience for our daughter. We do the shopping, even for things we do not need or would not use, and we take all the excess to the food pantry. We’ve donated lots of cereal, canned goods, toiletries and household items. Today we are dropping off a bunch of those Preparation H wipes that were such a good deal at Walgreens a while back, along with a LOT of chewing gum.
The things we drop off tend to be random (and perhaps a little strange) but the ladies have told us that they have all been well received by their clients. It’s a good feeling to help, and a great lesson for our daughter.
Laura at tenthingsfarm.blogspot.com
We give all of our extras to a Christian group that has a meal and a service for the homeless in a park downtown! love it!
Just this Sunday I was talking with a friend of mine at church, and the subject of coupons came up. I wasn’t surprised that she enjoyed “couponing,” but we had the greatest time comparing drug store deals. She jokingly mentioned that we should organize something for the college students who are children of missionaries. (We live in a town with an excellent Christian university.) The joke turned into an idea we both got excited about.
My friend grew up on the mission field and brought up that during her college years she worked to pay her school bill, but she didn’t have any discretionary income even for toothpaste. When she thought about the loads of toothpaste she has now as a result of drugstore deal-finding, she suggested we could share some with college students now. We’re still working on the details, but I’m even more excited about finding free stuff now that I’ve got a project for giving it away!
I am about to go meet with a seminary student friend (in her 40s) who asked me to show her how to put together a coupon binder, stock it and use it, since as a seminary student she has no income. I’m also bringing her a few bags of stuff from the mini-mart in my attic to stock her own pantry. (I’m thinking that this should be a CLASS at seminary, don’t you?)
It is that time of year where our local food pantry, church and school start collection items for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I plan on providing at least 8 gift bags with my extra shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste and a basket of make-up for distribution. Next year, I am hoping to double that number.
I recently donated to a food pantry run by a church in my neighborhood. I donated 6 bags of feminine hygiene products, diabetes supplies, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoo, and cosmetics.
I will be doing a similar donation The week of 10/20 at my place of work, for domestic violence awareness month. All the donations are sent to domestic violence shelters where women can go when leaving an abusive relationship.
A church in our area recently did a mission trip to Appalachia which is apparently a very poor area.
They wanted full size personal care items to give out to the people in the community.
I was able to donate:
22 toothpastes
14 toothbrushes
2 shampoo
2 conditioner
6 mens deodorant
5 womens
3 lip balm
4 smart rinse
4 baby wash
3 kids toothbrushes
1 j&j buddy bar
1 15 pk razors
1 3 pk
3 tums quik paks
8 3 roll pks of rolaids
1 pepcid ac
1 gas x
1 purell
2 soft soap spa body wash
13 bars soap
1 lg pack of pads
1 aveeno lotion
2 pks clean team kids wipes
Praise the Lord!
I call myself the CVS Missionary LOL
Amy
My church is currently collecting adult vitamins, cold m eds, and ibuprofen for a medical mission trip to Haiti.
I didnt have a lotof those things “in stock” but it was nice to have some to be able to give!
Thanks for sharing this. After just adopting a child from Russia, I understand the need out there. I’ll be contacting Rebekah shortly.
Me and a friend are getting all the members in our church a four month supply of everything they need. We are able to do this with all of our extras and freebies that we will continue to get.
My job took up a collection a few weeks ago for the Galveston police officers (probably the same one as Reagan, since I’m in the Dallas metroplex, too), and I packed up 3 boxes of snacks, toiletries & medication.
I send care packages to a single mom friend who is putting herself her through medical school right now. Not having to pay for toiletries has been a big help for her while she’s paying for school.
The rest either gets used at home or sent as care packages to relatives.
I love free stuff!
I just recently had learned how to shop at Walgreens and was getting a small stockpile. Then my assistant in my classroom ended up having to leave her home and all her belongings, along with her three children.
I was able to give her 2 sacks with new toiletries and food. If it had not been for my stockpile, I would not have been able to afford it.
Now I “buy” things I can get for free or less than .50 even if my family does not use them just for those cases when someone may truly be in need. Thank you for helping me help others.
We regularly make up bags of toiletries for single moms. We also ship many things to the Philippines for distribution among a village.
Since I started CVSing (other stores too, but I like the word CVSing) a year ago I have donated hundreds of dollars worth of personal care items and food. For years our family has put together shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Then I started making weekly donations to our local food bank.
Most recently I helped begin a project at church with the womens ministry. We are making cute fabric tote bags for the battered womens shelter and filling them with full size toiletries: shampoo, soap or body wash, toothpaste and brush, deodorant, and washcloth. All this fits inside a gallon zipper bag, which fits inside the fabric tote. I have made several bags already, but tonight will be the first night the ladies get together to sew. We are so excited! We plan to have a sewing day about 4 times a year. More on my blog: http://make–do.blogspot.com/2008/08/donating-to-charity.html
If anyone is interested in doing a similar thing I would be happy to pass on my bag instructions. Just go to my blog and leave a comment.
P.S. on my previous post. Here is the link to my blog showing the tote bags we are making: http://make–do.blogspot.com/2008/08/making-bags.html
Last week when I was walking out of Kroger I handed off my 2 $2 catalinas to a woman who looked like she might have needed them (she had a cast on one leg, a brace on the other, and her clothes were worn). It’s fun to make extra money, but if feels really good to pass it on to someone who needs it more.
I have also made a deal with one of the charity leaders in my church- she set aside a shelf on a closet for me to bring in all my extra stuff, and she and others can use the items as needed to pass on to others who might be in need.
Honestly, being able to to have extra to give is one of the best parts of couponing! Thanks for helping to make it possible for me and my family!
I haven’t been able to donate much yet – just some bottles of cough syrup – because I am just getting started.
I just wanted to say, Crystal, that you are obviously glorifying God in this – look at how many ladies have been able to help others by using the methods we are learning from you!
Most shelters prefer to give out travel/trial size toiletries because homeless people have very little space to carry full-size toiletries. When you can get a travel/trial size toiletry item for free (toothpaste, deodorant, soap, sanitizer, etc) you may consider donating those items to your local shelter to hand out to the homeless.
This summer, after flooding in my state, I was able to put together a small box of freebie toothpaste, shampoo and deodorant to donate to flood victims.
I also regularly clip cat food/litter coupons and send them with any freebies to a no-kill shelter that we help support.
Hi Money saving mom. I enjoy your site.
Happy belated birthday…uh 27 is YOUNG!!!
I used to spend all the money I got doing Pinecone Research surveys on cloth dipes for my kids, but my kids have outgrown that stage, so I now donate that Paypal money to a charity serving in Haiti (www.RealHopeForHaiti.org) – it’s a pair of sisters and their dad who run a clinic and a rescue center for malnourished children in a rural mountain village called Cazale. My daughter was also able to participate in the Pink Lemonade Brigade this summer (free lemonade stand and free cans of lemonade to sell!) and was able to donate all of the money she raised to Real Hope as well. They recently have had a lot of problems with flooding from the Hurricanes, and everyone in the village lost their gardens, so they know that there will be even more problems with food shortages in the coming months. They have a wish list of all the things that they need – peanut butter, diapers, baby bottles, etc. as well. You can view their blogs at:
http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/
and
http://www.xanga.com/haitinurse4life/
(warning: there may be some graphic medical related photos)
And here is the direct link to see the list of their needs:
http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/current-needs/
I love to write letters, so I write a letter and send a box of stuff to the troops in Iraq from my home town. After doing my CVS runs I have boxes set out and just distribute appropriate things evenly and mail when they get full. I let my 2 year old color or paint pictures for a dash of artwork as well. Because it’s just me paying for postage, I rotate the list as to who gets a whole box and who gets a letter.
As a single girl I can’t really go through the number of tubes of toothpaste I can get for free or almost free, no matter how clean I want my teeth to be. I keep a bag in my stockpiling closet and fill it with all the pieces I know I won’t use. Also, whenever I see something useful for really cheap, I buy it and put it in the bag. It may be shampoo, school supplies, I even put in cereal when I managed to get it for 35 cents a box during the Target deal last week. I save it up and then deliver it to one of the shelters in the area, either a shelter for women and children or one for mainly adults, depending on what it contains.
Since I’ve recently gone back to school and am a full-time student I don’t really have money I can donate, but I feel good being able to donate these things, even if I didn’t pay much for them.
I have been saving some stuff to use in the Operation Christmas Child Shoe boxes.
Since I started ‘CVSing’ in june, I have sent probably a bag every 2 weeks, to my mother in law, who can use the stuff, as well as taken a box of stuff into church for people who need it to take what they want.
Lately we have been talking about making ‘care packages’ for missionary families that need them.
Great to hear everyone’s ideas!
Recently, my son’s school asked for donations of things to send to the troops over seas. It was wonderful to be able to go through our stockpile and send soap, deo., bodywashes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, canned goods, etc.
Such a blessing to have so much on hand for those that need it!
I work at social services in my local area. Another worker was telling me that she often has to buy products for her clinets, such as personal products and cleaning product. I have been saving those items in my “give away box.” Every 5th item that I get on my bargin hunts, I place in the box. I had planned to take them to a local church, but found that there was a urgent need now. I brought a huge box of shampoo, soap, fem. products …well just to much to name. Come to find out, there was a woman and two daughters fleeing another state in a dom. violence case. She just choose my state because she had to get away and knows no one here. She is really starting all over again. The items went to her family. I feel so blessed to have been able to help this family! It also reminds me that such things could happen to people we love. Even though we may be stangers, I try to treat everyone like my family. Perhaps some day, my children may need a hand and someone will be there to help.
God provided amazingly abundantly for our family of 5 through the last couple months, largely due to all the coupon use and sales. A family at church went through a fire and needed items replenished. I was able to go through the cupboards and put together about 8 FULL bags of groceries, toiletries and cleaning supplies. And we still had enough for our family. The next week I again got great deals and re-filled the stocks on just $36. Once again God brought another family who were needing some help. So I went through and filled another 6 full bags to deliver to this family. The best part was as we talked with the boys about how God provided abundantly for us in order for us to provide abundantly for others. Being rapidly growing boys, they became rather nervous about giving away so much food (food is VERY important to these boys). So I took them on a tour of the pantry, refrigerator and downstairs extras stocked. I showed them that God had not only provided for these families through us, but that even after giving away so much we still had at least as much food for our own family’s needs as we would normally have after I go shopping for the week. They were amazed, and it was a wonderful time to glorify God within our family for His abundant provision — on only $36.
Thank you so much for re-emphasizing the need to give to others that are in need instead of just hoarding items that you couldn’t possibly use in the next 20 years. Taking the saving ideas from this site and others, I have been able to take $20 a month and turn it into a great donation for a deserving cause. I always keep a box stashed away to put all the free stuff in, and then try to meet a chosen charitie’s wish list with $20 and coupons each month!
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