Happy Friday: Couponing to Give Back
Sent from reader, Jessica:
This is a small shout-out to my wonderful sister and all of the other silent couponers out there who give back to their communities, especially around the holiday season. My sister, with help from our mom, just donated over 70 toiletry items to a local shelter for runaway youth. My sister couponed all year long to collect these items and just donated them to kids who really don’t have much. The workers at the shelter couldn’t believe how much was donated. Here is a picture of everything she gave.
I wanted to write this just to show everyone how awesome couponers like my sister are because of how willing they are to give back. I hope this inspires others to give to different local charities. Even simple toiletries can mean a lot to people. Happy couponing to all!
HAPPY FRIDAY! 😀
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Wow! That’s a lot of stuffs. Definitely inspires me to donate to the charities. God bless you and your family.
That’s how I was able to donate 13 toys this year. What was going to go to the shelters wen to a neighboring town that got hit by a forest fire this summer. From what I saw on this site gave me the toy idea.
Very nice and thoughtful!
Great job! I feel that this is a lesson for all the couponers.. Save money serve people… A special thanks to Collin 🙂
As a foster parent to teens who have virtually nothing when they “age out,” I can say this helps youth tremendously. I usually try to convince my foster children to stay with us for at least one semester free of charge so they can learn how hard the real world is and how expensive it is to try and make something of their lives when they’ve been so challenged due to no fault of their own. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! Heather you are amazing and inspirational!
my quasi mother, the most wonderful woman I know, raised 4 of her own, had 5 disabled foster children, and kept one of the disabled fosters until he passed away when he was in his 30’s because at age 18 the system just dumps them and he was blind and deaf. glad there are amazing people like you and her to give these kids a chance at life and love
Very inspiring.
I have a box of toiletries that I’ve been collecting to donate they just haven’t made it anywhere yet. A lot of them were “free” items that our family doesn’t use or extras. No where near this scale though.
When we get a nice stock pile of toiletries and hygiene items, we will take zip lock bags and fill them. Then when an area gets hit by floods, tornadoes, etc, we find an address to mail them to. We also send a lot of the toiletries to the military—along with small lotions, chap sticks, eye drops, etc. Just another thought.
Awesome thanks for sharing.I gave food donations this year to local church.paying it forward rocks thanks q community so inspiring.
So awesome!
Couponers paying it foward are awesome 🙂
Wow, Jessica, your sister is so awesome! Those look like full sized products. The people who receive these gifts will be so grateful. It reminds me to give back to the community too, thanks to all I have saved through Collin and Hip2Save.
That’s awesome! I was able to donate 2 boxes full of food and one box of toiletries to the local battered women’s shelter this year and I’ve only been coupon in since Oct!!
That’s amazing Emilee! Good for you!
If you stay in a hotel they often provide you with individual sized items. Most hotels will replenish these daily during your stay. The cost of them is calculated into your nightly rate.
I also send all my expired coupons to military family overseas since they can use them at the Commissary 🙂
Do u have an address that I can send my expired coupons to? I have heard of people doing this, but never knew where to send them to. My email addy is puzzle312@gmail.com. Thanks
If you look up Expired Coupons for Overseas Military on FB you can find addresses for base reps or you can adopt a family!
Sounds great. Thanks for the info!
That’s awesome, something to add to new year resolution! Giving back warms people’s hearts and a good thing I can teach my kids to do
I live in south mississippi where the tornadoes came through and completely destroyed businesses and houses 2 days before Christmas. Many people lost everything and 4 people were killed. I was able to donate many groceries and other items I had gotten for nothing thanks to the help from this site!! Thank you Collin!!!!
This is one of my favorite times to be a couponer because I can give back. I was able to put together fulfill two wish lists for handicapped adults who live at a center, give toiletries to teenagers at the school I teach at (kids who put things like deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes on their wish list of needs, which also made me sad that they needed to put those basic things down), and donated a bunch of toys and games to the local police department that was collecting toys for local domestic abuse shelters. I made it a point to take my 3 1/2 year old son to take the toys and explained that some people don’t even have homes. I hope to continue to teach my boys about giving back to the community because it all makes me a little more grateful for what I have and that I am able to provide so much for my family and I hope that they learn that from us.
Fantastic & inspiring! 👍
My husband got a gift card to Publix for Christmas. Today I took the kids, along with coupons, pet shopping. We were able to donate over $100 worth of cleaning and pet supplies to our local humane society. My kids are huge animal lovers and they were so excited to do it. Couponing has made today’s trip along with several shelter drops I’ve made possible. I have to give credit where it’s due, Collin without you and your site I couldn’t have done it! Pay it forward folks!
Wonderful! Very inspiring!
Wonderful! I LOVE animals & wish I could adopt them all. Your generosity to selfless animals is inspiring!
Check with your animal shelter first. I was surprised to find out our local shelter uses only 1 brand of food and will not accept donated food.
Ours actually has a wish list posted to their website of things they need/want. I know the shelter by my office only accepts certain brands of food etc. That’s a great tip for anyone who wants to donate to!
That is SO awesome! A big kudo to your sister for putting her couponing skills to good use to help others. That is my absolute favorite thing about couponing – it enables me to help others by donating so much more than I ever could without coupons. 🙂
Excellent!
It’s much better to give than to receive 😉☺️🎉🎁🎁
So awesome!!! Thanks to this site I was able to donate toys to a family we adopted through work. I donated several of the khols cares little critter books that I bought on sale for $2.50, a hallmark jingle pup set that was at target 90% clearance last year (regular price was $34!) also 2 bath and body works lotions I bought with a free item with purchase coupon used during the $3 sale! unfortunately my llbean $5 sweater (purchased with $10 coupon) didn’t get here in time for the pick up 🙁 I was so bummed! I also bought the disney 7 princess pack at half off for two coworkers to donate! We used wrapping paper, ribbon and gift tags I got at the target after Christmas sale last year!! My coworkers also donated a toddler bike I found on amazon for $50! We were so excited for the little girl and her mom!!!
Awesome!!!👏👏👏
That is wonderful. For the past two years I have taken a laundry basket full of toiletries, even pet food this year, to a local food pantry. I had to use this pantry six or so years ago and it is nice to be able to donate to them.
Congratulations that you don’t need to use their services anymore and good for you for giving back!
That’s so beautiful… colin also inspired me to donate as well.. I usually use all the kohls cash I collect for donations only. I collected over$150 and purchased warm clothes for homeless children overseas. Thank you Colin for your beautiful heart.
Very inspiring! Such a wonderful way to help those in need. Thank you for sharing
I had my toddler help me pack large ZIPLOC bags yesterday with wipes, small toiletries, snacks and a few dollars cash yesterday. We keep a couple of these care packages in each car in case we come across someone asking for help when we are out and about.
That’s a great idea!!!!
Hey everyone, I have a $20 to Shutterfly that expires early next year. I was wondering if anyone has any free shipping codes that they weren’t going to use? I’d hate the $20 to go to waste.
Like April, I save hotel toiletries. I had collected a huge amount when someone suggested they were useful for victims of the natural disaster like the Joplin tornado a couple of years back. I was not able to travel there for a donation, but I gave them to a community back-pack program in our town that donates food for kids over the weekend. Toiletries were needed and the individual bottles were the perfect size. I know it isn’t a coupon but it is something you can save when you go to a hotel. 🙂
Wow! that is so aewsome!
This is great and also what we do with all of our freebies, and super deals on toiletries- I am in the insurance business and every few months there is an unfortunate house fire or I hear about someone in need. My husband is the couponer in our home and he loves to help people all year long. God Bless and Happy Couponing.
The McBee’s
Love hearing these stories! I have a small cupboard for my stock pile and when it gets filled up I fill a grocery sack of toiletries and donate them to my local battered women shelter. I recently found out a family friend works for a childrens shelter and what that can’t use they send over to the regular shelter, so I have more places to donate to next year! It’s so humbling that something I enjoy doing can help many people.
Here is another way to help next year. I fill out every single free sample size offer I come across all year and also pick up all the little bottles of shampoo, lotion etc that are available at motels. Doesn’t cost a bit more to take them or leave them. We take a nice big bag between Thanksgiving and Christmas to the womens’ shelter.
This goes to show you don’t need to be rich or go over budget to help those in need – both people and animals, I live in a large city and see homeless people every day on my walk to work. I made a gift bag for one of the women I always see and was able to do so with all the extra toiletries I hadn’t used yet- lotion, sunscreen, deodorant, face wash, etc. as well as some food items and movie tickets I had received for free. (Theater is only a couple blocks away.) I was even able to use a nice gift bag that I had saved from a gift I received. I plan on making more gift bags for others, and not only making them at the holidays, but throughout the year.
@ Lisa: Your comment especially touched my heart. It’s so easy to get caught up in our own busy lives, and not notice someone else’s needs. I love that you noticed this lady repeatedly, and took the time to do something special to brighten her holiday! Thanks for sharing 🙂
In my area that I live in, I have seen people on local swaps and garage sales seeking the items they got with coupons for profit. 🙁 I really hope these people will see your post and consider donating to purple who really could use a helping hand. I know all to well having to choose between toiletries and food and fuel.
Really, don’t judge. For all you know they could be a single income family and this is a way they supplement their income so they can afford things for their own family.
This gives me an idea. I never seem to know who would benefit the most from such a donation. So if everyone who knew of such places locally put it out and we can make a list by city, it would make a great resource for people like me who have no clue where to donate and where certain things would be appreciated and mean more to people. Further it can be divided by food toilet writes and other items required I guess.
May be Collin can put a post out and help us compile a master list.
The easiest would be to check with your local food pantry. Many take more items than simply food.
I agree with Tracy. Our local food pantry takes toiletries, extra garden produce and even need paper grocery sacks to hand the food out in. There’s a “pantry” in my Mom’s town that will even take your leftover dinner to give the homeless. That one takes almost anything at all–food, old clothes, old shoes, whatever. Google food pantries or shelters in your town. I’m pretty sure if one won’t take something you have they’ll point you toward one that will.
oh that is sooooo awesome!! We often have leftover food at dinner and would love to help someone else out!
Every year my small group at work (county department iof social services) does a gift exchange, either draw a specific name it white elephant style. This year we decided instead to adopt a family one of my coworkers had spoken to a couple about available resources for their situation.
There was a single mom at their church who was battling cancer. She had a 3 and 12 year kid and this couple became surrogate grandparents to the kids. Unfortunately mom passed away on November so these girls gave been taken in by this older couple- dad is not in the picture. M
Our group at work decided we would rather help them have a wonderful Christmas and between the 20 of us we got the girls clothes and shoes, toys and books and stuffed animals for the little one (who turns 4 next week) and a kindle, amazon gift card and sewing kit for the older one. We even did an Applebees and Walmart gift card for the couple themselves as they deserve something for their selflessness.
The looks on their faces when they opened those gifts was amazing! True meaning of the holidays right there.
You are awesome
I have 2 boxes downstairs already started for donations from my coupon adventures! One will be going to the homeless shelter in my city. The other is already half full of detergents and cleaning supplies for our local animal shelter. Because of Collin, I find the best and most smart deals to help my family while also giving back to the community.
Our local alternative high school collects these type items every year to make bags for the homeless. Because of couponers like myself who donate, they are able to make over 300 personal care packages which are given to 5 different agencies to hand out to those in need. I love supporting these kids by donating from my stash of free and inexpensive health care items.
I did something like that this year also. I just gathered some toiletries out of my closet that I had extras of from where I bought using coupons and donated them to our local homeless shelter. I also donated some outgrown clothes. I love donating and encourage my toddlers to do so also.
We gather our couponed items for a local home for troubled teens. Your local Dept of Human Services could also connect you to foster families who could use such items as laundry detergent, shampoo, body wash etc. One of the most rewarding donations our family did thoughtout the final years of a church friend’s life was leave a bag of groceries in her car each Sunday morning. She was on a limited, fixed income and the paper products, health and beauty items, etc helped stretch her budget. It also taught our kids a valuable lesson
I loved reading your posting…thank you and your for being so unselfish…great idea as well because those products cannot be purchased with foods stamps…how true it is that there are so many “silent couponers”…call me sappy, but I believe that because so many of us are giving, our country continues to be blessed with abundance…
faith in humanity=RESTORED! God bless every single one of you! Absolutely amazing!