Get Out and Give Back
By Jane Hess
It’s wedding season – and there’s nothing as frustrating as buying gifts for your thirty- and forty-something friends who already have everything they’ll ever need – and then some. Rather than the just-out-of-college newlyweds who are thrilled with Grandma’s sideboard and Crate and Barrel dinnerware, we stress over what stuff to keep or get rid of, and whether to keep his flat screen TV or ours. And as I’m wandering dazed and confused through Williams Sonoma and Nordstroms it hit me – let’s have give-back showers and parties!
For example – you’re getting married and your townhouse is completely furnished. Your best friend is throwing you a shower and your friends will bring you something adorable (after all, you are a bride-to-be). And, they’re also bringing a gently used (fill in the blank here – pan, casserole dish, coat) to donate to the nearest Goodwill.
Or, gather the girlfriends together and bring all those great clothes, bags and shoes that you’re all tired of wearing. Arrange them up by size and try them on – it’s sort of like playing little-kid dress up with coffee and wine. By the end of the party you might have snagged your best friend’s sweater that you’ve always adored … and the leftovers go off to – you guessed it – the nearest women’s shelter. If there’s some hot item that all of you want, bid on it – with the donation going to charity, of course.
And let’s not leave the men out. Guys, for your next Monday Night Football party, why don’t each of you bring those khakis that don’t fit anymore because you’ve been working out so faithfully (!) and cart them off to a homeless shelter?
There are plenty of non-profits and churches that are just waiting for your gently worn items to re-gift to someone else. Sometimes they’ll pick them up at your house; sometimes you can drop them off at your way to work. The point it, let’s see what happens when you add a little give-back to your parties. It’s almost 0% labor-intensive. You and your friends get almost-new clothes or kitchen goodies or whatever-you-think-of for free. So do the neediest people in your community. Everybody wins. And you can finally get rid of those 12 bottles of scented hand lotion.
Get out and give back.
Jane Hess is a free-lance writer and life coach. You can send your comments to getoutandgiveback@hotmail.com
