Valley Fire benefit idea, looking for help

Hello, I hear from our friend who lost most of her stuff about new things she remembers daily that are gone. Beautiful shawls, books, gardening tools, her homemade tinctures and other herbal remedies, her collection of tools/jars for making homemade herbals, kitchen tools, art supplies.

My idea is to approach small local stores (art stores, bead stores, knitting supplies, book stores used and new , kitchen supplies and more )and see if they could match funds raised towards gift certificates. I want to contribute towards the "extras" people lost. We know they needed clothes, sleeping gear and money and the community came forward in a big way to help with that. Now onward.

I'm wondering if you would

a) be willing to help brainstorm/implement this project
b) be willing to donate
c) be willing to speak to small businesses and see what they can do
d) be willing to help find the people who could benefit from this

Any input is helpful.

thank you, Joy ~ 707 eight38 -8051

It's a very thoughtful idea, and I think that many people may be swamped with holiday fever, so you may not get the response you hope for. Since replacing these items isn't time sensitive, if you don't get enough response, you may want to begin anew in the New Year for your New Beginnings concept.

You could ask for donations on FreeCycle and other free sites on Facebook, and stores themselves. First you might consider where these items will be kept, accounted for, and distributed. It's a bigger responsibility than you might realize.

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Posted in reply to the post by joybird:

...My idea is to approach small local stores (art stores,bead stores, knitting supplies, book stores used and new...

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Posted in reply to the post by Shandi:

It's a very thoughtful idea, and I think that many people may be swamped with holiday fever...

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Thanks Shandi, I like your possible title "New Beginnings ".

Part of why I'm asking for help is that it could be a bigger responsibility than I might realize.
Also now because it is the season of sharing ,many people donate to charity at this time of year.
I don't imagine needing to account for items or where they will be stored. My idea is to ask stores if they would match a dollar amount if a girt certificate from this project came to them. So if an individual said they really wanted some books and a book store had said yes and we had the funds to donate say $25 and the book store could match that equally then a recipient would have $50 worth of credit at a given book store. And if we had a variety of stores participating then a person could say what they are really missing or wanting right now. And the person would determine what they have room for in their life. No storage required.
By having gift certificates to specific stores people have a larger choice and the opportunity to receive something new. I imagine they could ask on Freecycle the same as I could.

I hope this helps clarify some.

thanks, Joy

Oh, that seems like it could work. I look forward to hearing more as things develop. Yes, many people donate large amounts to charity, and get a nice tax deduction, but others like me donate smaller amounts to those in need, like $5 to a homeless woman and her dog living on the street today. My focus is on helping with necessities, but artists might be more inclined toward donating to your project. And storage is gonna be required by someone. Maybe the recipients could "pay it forward" and keep things moving.... like new books. It's wonderful to get a new book, but at this stage I only get used ones when possible.

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Posted in reply to the post by joybird:

...Part of why I'm asking for help is that it could be a bigger responsibility than I might realize...

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