Discarded

I like to keep things. Too many things, actually. I'm not really a pack rat like you've seen on TV. Most of the stuff is in boxes and labeled properly. I don't have pathways in my house that lead to other piles of stuff, junk, and more crap. I don't keep the Styrofoam containers that are used to hold meats purchased at the grocery store. (If you do that, well, you might need to rethink why it is specifically that you do that.) I like to keep......cards. Yep, I'm a sucker for a Hallmark moment. I like all kinds of greetings, especially American. It's been said that the best way to somebody's heart is through their stomach--that's true, the MA Fat Woman does like a good pan of homemade macaroni and cheese. But, if somebody thinks enough of me to peruse the aisles searching for just the right card, I'm going to keep that card, probably forever. So, therein lies the problem. During my days working the counter at the post office I met a lot of folks and had lots of conversations. One such conversation stuck out in my mind as I contemplated my growing number of used greeting cards. A customer had mentioned donating used greeting cards, so, I did some research. St. Jude's Ranch for Children has a 40 year history of healing and caring for abused, abandoned and neglected children. St. Judes provides healing and nurturing in a safe home-like environment where children can learn life skills to start new lives with new chances, new choices and new hope. Of course, they take monetary donations, but they also take donations of used greeting cards. The used cards will have the backs of the cards (normally, where all of the mushy and handwritten stuff is located) removed and replaced with a new and recycled backing. The new cards are then offered for sale to the public at a reasonable price. What a great way to get rid of some stuff, help the environment and help out abused children. I am including St. Judes link http://www.stjudesranch.org/help_card.php so you can get their address and all of the particulars. Please hurry, because they are only accepting donations of used cards until February 28, 2009 for this year. BTW, this is my 150th post! If you'd like to send me a card for any reason just shoot me an email and I'll send you my virtual address.