Tag: help our veterans

Keep Your Car Clutter-Free

Posted on by Jordank

Anyone who operates a vehicle knows how quickly it can fill up with papers, empty beverage containers, automotive supplies, receipts and other junk. If you don’t #clean and #organize your vehicle frequently, it can fast become a #cluttered #mess.

The mess gets worse if you’re shuttling kids, who leave articles of clothing, sporting goods and food wrappers in the back seats, glove compartments and seatback pockets. “Kids add a whole new level to car clutter,” says Home Storage Solutions 101.

To keep your ride #clean and #organized, start by reducing the #stuff you keep in it. Remove everything from the car’s interior at the end of each day you drive. Make a habit of emptying cup holders and consoles, and disposing of any #trash.

Once you have a baseline of #cleanliness, buy a seat back or floor organizer to keep any essentials — wipes, a flashlight, first-aid kit, charging cords, etc. — in a single place. Place important documents such as your vehicle registration and insurance card in the glove box.

Keep a trash bag in the car for the wrappers and container that otherwise would get stuffed into a crevice or stashed under a seat. Train yourself and your children to collect all of their stuff at the end of every ride. Repetition will make it second-nature, says blogger Kerilynn Snyder.

Next, establish a regular cleaning routine, Danielle Moss says. Vacuum the floors and wipe down all surfaces and glass. For the easiest #cleanup in all kinds of weather, invest in all-weather floormats to make spills, mud and dirt easy to deal with.

You can often find lightly used baskets, organizers and automotive accessories at the #thrift stores supplied by generous #donations to ClothingDonations.org. And if you find any #junk in your car you don’t need as you #declutter, bag it and contact ClothingDonations.org for a #free #donation #pickup.

Those #donations help fund valuable programs that #help the nation’s #veterans. So you’ll get the good feeling that goes along with #donating to a good cause along with a clean and comfortable vehicle. Happy motoring!

Make Every Day Boxing Day

Posted on by Jordank

Happy Boxing Day! British custom has it that the first weekday after Christmas is the day to acknowledge those rendering services throughout the year with gifts or gratuities. Servants and tradesmen have accepted “Christmas boxes” of gifts, cash bonuses, leftovers and secondhand items since medieval times, House Beautiful says.

Today, the United Kingdom and former colonies such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand celebrate Boxing Day as a shopping holiday, similar to Black Friday or a post-holiday clearance sale in the United States.

We’ve likely done all of the shopping we need to do for a while, and more shopping just means more #stuff to put away — or more #clutter. So let’s return to the “#giving” definition of Boxing Day and make it an everyday tradition from now through the new year.

It’s a great holiday for #minimalists, because it calls upon those celebrating to #give things away. Assuming it’s in good working order, the stuff you no longer use — wrong-sized clothes, extra kitchen and dinnerware, appliances, books, small furniture and so on — may have a second useful life in someone else’s hands.

That’s where ClothingDonations.org can help. Our drivers will pick up those extra things and resell them to #thrift stores to fund an array of programs that the nation’s #veterans rely upon. It’s a generous, safe and convenient way to observe the Boxing Day tradition of acknowledging others’ service.

You don’t have to limit yourself to a single box, of course. ClothingDonations.org will #pick up as many boxes and bags of #donations as you want to give. And if you’re still in the process of household #decluttering, you can schedule a #donation to match your progress as often as you gather a few boxes of stuff to #give away.

As the #holidays wind down, we hope you can make Boxing Day an everyday tradition — one that recognizes service and sacrifice while helping #declutter and #streamline your home life. Get started today, and make a new habit of observing Boxing Day as early and often as you want while getting organized for the new year. #BoxingDay

Help Veterans on National POW/MIA Recognition Day

Posted on by Jordank

To observe National POW/MIA Recognition Day, attend a local memorial event, visit the grave of a veteran or spend some personal time with a former POW or veteran. Veterans appreciate the recognition; visit the local veterans home or hospital to spread good cheer or contribute to veterans. ClothingDonations.org makes it easy to #donate to #veterans causes — simply contact it to arrange a #free #donation #pickup of used #clothing and #household goods. We’ll resell that lightly used, unwanted stuff and give the money to a range of programs that help veterans of every U.S. conflict. #POW/MIA

The Importance of Getting Vaccinated Against COVID-19

Posted on by Jordank

The spread of the more contagious #Delta variant of the coronavirus has many areas reeling from a dramatic rise in #COVID-19 cases, illnesses and hospitalizations. And getting #vaccinated can help slow the spread and avert more tragedies.

While no available #vaccine is 100% effective against the virus, CNBC says, all of them drastically reduce the chance of contracting a symptomatic infection and almost eliminate the chance of mortal illness completely.

Don’t think that because the first wave of the coronavirus affected the elderly worst that you’re in no danger. Delta is more transmissible, so younger people are getting infected, too — and new cases are concentrated among the unvaccinated.

One great reason to get vaccinated is to protect elderly, sick and immune-compromised friends and relatives. Even if they are vaccinated, they are safest when the people around them are at least somewhat immune to the virus and able to inhibit its spread.

Think of the #veterans in your community: Many have chronic health conditions such as diabetes that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19. When you get a #vaccine, you are honoring the sacrifices they have made on behalf of the county.

The vaccines — contrary to the misinformation campaigns out there — are safe for use. More than 4.48 billion doses have now been administered worldwide and 352 million doses in the U.S., according to Bloomberg. Serious side effects are exceedingly rare.

Many people experience a headache, fever, chills and fatigue in the first 48 hours after their first or second dose. That’s your body learning to fight off the virus. But that’s it — and what a small price to pay for months of protection against a deadly disease.

While vaccines are available free of charge, getting sick from COVID-19 can be very expensive. A coronavirus hospitalization will cost a person with no insurance coverage about $73,000, FAIR Health estimates, or max out an insured person’s deductible.

Perhaps most importantly, vaccines are the best hope for everything — school, work, social gatherings, concerts, event and even grocery shopping — getting back to normal. Don’t you long for the carefree, maskless days of 2019?

The Difference Between Decluttering and Storage

Posted on by Jordank

#Decluttering isn’t easy. Even when you find the time to do it and prepare yourself to keep, donate or trash all of the clothes that don’t fit, tchotchkes and other #junk, you can quickly get bogged down in the decision-making.

Many of your possessions will carry memories that make you linger over the decision or leave it for another day. After a few of these quandaries, you may just throw in the towel, shove a bunch of random items in a box and “store” it out of sight.

That is not decluttering — nor is it storage. It’s simply putting off the inevitable.

Storage is for things you use. You may use such things infrequently but regularly, like holiday decorations. You can keep these things from adding to #clutter by sorting it into dedicated, labeled bins and putting the bins in a predictable out-of-the way location.

You also have things you use frequently that need to be stored. Think of your kitchen cabinets and closets; they already hold any number of items that you’ll usse this week, maybe multiple times.

When you have #stuff that doesn’t have a “home,” however (meaning its own drawer, shelf, bin, box or display), you have #clutter. And as a result, any serious decluttering is going to involve a lot of #organizing.

So your goal in decluttering is really twofold: to weed out anything that you don’t use, and to make sure that anything you do use has a place. This is a tall order, the Organizing Blog is well aware.

Start small with a single closet, kitchen cabinet or desk drawer. Figure out what kinds of things should “live” there, and separate out anything that’s broken, disused or just in the wrong place. You can toss, donate, and relocate or store these items, respectively.

Leave only what you know you use frequently in immediate-access locations — and if you don’t use something frequently in its current location, find a place where it can stay until you need it. Otherwise, it will just get in the way.

Once you’ve organized and/or stored the #stuff you use, contact ClothingDonations.org for a free, contactless #donation #pickup if — er, when — you want to get rid of the lightly used clothing and household items you don’t. We’ll help find them new homes, and help veterans at the same time.