Start your #holiday #cleaning early, Forbes advises. #Declutter things that have a tendency to collect in places they don’t belong, such as laundry, mail and other objects. Tackle a room at a time, starting with the ones that will get the most use: the dining room, living room and kitchen. The entryway is important to maintaining cleanliness, so designate a space for guests’ shoes and coats, including a boot tray or doormat for mucked-up footwear. Once you’ve completed the #cleaning to your satisfaction, set the mood by mulling a hot beverage or lighting a scented candle. Turn on the holiday tunes and enjoy the season!
Tag: donate to veterans
Deep-Clean or Quick-Clean for the Holidays
Hosting for the #holidays? You’ll probably need to #tidy up before friends and family arrive. Better Homes & Gardens offers tips for a seven-day, comprehensive, preholiday deep-clean; targeted, one-hour spruce-ups; and emergency triage for holiday stains. If you only have an hour or two before your guests arrive, focus on the bathrooms they will use, as well as the entryway, living room and kitchen. “Carry a laundry basket throughout the house, picking up #clutter as you go. Once filled, put everything in its place or hide the basket.” Revisit the basket after the holidays to see what you might #donate to ClothingDonations.org.
Help Veterans on National POW/MIA Recognition Day
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
Decluttering on Labor Day Weekend
If you have a lot of #stuff laying around that goes unused, Labor Day weekend is a great time to weed some of it out. Pick one of the three days and get to work: Go room to room with boxes, bins and a garbage can, selecting things to give away, sell and trash. You’ll likely be able to fill those bins with #junk you don’t want or need in just a few minutes or hours. Take that stuff and throw a #garage sale to make some extra cash, or simply contact ClothingDonations.org for a free #donation pickup to get it out of your sight quickly and help fund programs that help the nation’s many #veterans. #LaborDay
Coming Together to Support Veterans
On Aug. 8, hundreds of officials and members of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) will convene in Orlando, Fla., for the 2023 VVA Annual Convention. At first glance, the five-day show looks like any national conference. The difference? It’s entirely staged by — and dedicated to — veterans.
Homer Hickam, the best-selling author of the memoir Rocket Boys (the source material for the movie October Sky) will keynote the show. Hickam received the VVA Excellence in the Arts Award in 2011 and will sign copies of his latest book, Don’t Blow Yourself Up!, a memoir of his tour of duty in Vietnam.
VVA will also honor several individuals for their commitment to the nation’s veterans. Harvey Pratt, creator of the Warrior’s Circle of Honor at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., will receive the Excellence in Arts Award.
Jan Scruggs, founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and chief promoter of the Vietnam Memorial, will receive VVA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. And Laurel Lea Schaefer-Bozoukoff — Miss America 1972 and a cast member of the primetime soap Falcon Crest — will receive the VVA President’s Award for Supporting the Troops in Vietnam for her USO tour and enduring support.
The convention isn’t just speeches, awards and celebrations, though. This is where VVA plans the next steps to #help #veterans of every U.S. conflict. Dedicated committees will discuss proposed resolutions on a laundry list of veterans issues, including Agent Orange, POW/MIAs, PTSD and substance abuse, veterans benefits, health care, homelessness and more.
Committees will meet to discuss the special concerns of women, minority and incarcerated veterans. And the conference will feature a Veterans Mall, where dozens of vendors supporting veterans in living their lives to the fullest will show off their products and services.
As we prepare for the annual event, VVA would like to thank the readers of The Organizing Blog. Your generous #donations to ClothingDonations.org help fund local, regional and national programming for veterans of every era, and we couldn’t host a conference without them.
VVA hopes that you will continue to support our organization in making good on its promise: “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”