I’m a big believer in hand me downs. We accepted hand me down clothes/toys when the kids were younger, and paid it forward to co-workers kids.
Our crib was a really nice hand me down from a former co-worker. When we were through with it after 2 kids, we gave it to another coworker who’s wife was expecting their first kid, his 3rd kid is in it.
When I go through the boys drawers to clean out old clothes I make 3 piles:
– Good stuff
– play clothes (perhaps some stains, but lots of wear left).
– trash… clothes that are badly stained, worn out, or otherwise not worth anything.
The trash pile gets turned into rags.
The Good stuff gets passed on to friends or to the younger kid.
Everything else gets donated to Salvation Army or Alliance for Africa.
Toys get passed on or donated to Salvation Army or Alliance for Africa. I like both organizations because they have extremely low overhead. Not a lot of fat at the top.
(Disclaimer – family member was on the board for Alliance. I know from meeting some of the refugee families they help that even the less pristine stuff WILL get used. If you have nothing, even slightly stained clothes are an improvement.) http://alliance-for-africa.org/programs.php
