Tag: helping veterans

Use Your Extra Hour to Declutter

Posted on by Jordank

First proposed by Benjamin Franklin as a way for Parisians to save money on candles, daylight saving time became ingrained in American society as a way for farmers to make the most of longer days. In the 1970s, daylight time justified itself as a solution to trim energy usage. Today, those long summer nights are still coveted for leisure activities.

Daylight time comes to an end this weekend, so people in most of the nation (except for those in Arizona and Hawaii, which do not observe it) will turn their clocks back an hour on Sunday morning before dawn. And while it may be disheartening to see darkness fall before dinner, you can use that extra hour in your schedule.

Many Americans see the extra hour in the middle of the night as a bonus hour for sleep. However, few will actually take advantage of the extra hour of rest, the Harvard Health Blog says. Since most people’s bodies have become accustomed to rising at a particular hour, regardless of what the clock says, it will take several days to adjust.

If you’re up early, however, you can use the extra hour to do something you’ve been meaning to do anyway. Follow Simply Designing’s advice and do an hour of decluttering every day starting with the kitchen, and your home will be cleaner and more clutter-free in just seven days.

Be More With Less suggests getting rid of 100 things in a “decluttering burst” that lasts only an hour. Grab a box for donations and a bag for trash, set the timer, and eliminate 10 things from the junk drawer. Then move on systematically to the kitchen, car, closets, bedroom, and so on. When the bell rings, you’ll be amazed at how quickly the eliminated items have piled up!

Sound impossible? It isn’t. In every one of those rooms, there are products that have expired or failed to live up to their promise. “Just in case” items are the worst kind of clutter, the blog says, because “just in case means never.” Get rid of them, and you will be able to “stop living in fear of not having enough.”

Once you’ve used the extra hour that daylight time’s end has provided to get rid of a few things, contact ClothingDonations.org for a donation pickup; it’s another time-saver in your ongoing decluttering quest that helps veterans nationwide. Then, take solace in the fact that you’ll be spending five months of wintry darkness in a newly clutter-free home.

Harvest a Few Fall Deals at the Thrift

Posted on by Jordank

The apples are crisp, and the air is crisper … it must be fall! And there’s no better time to score a few bargains at the local thrift store. With cold weather and the biggest holidays just around the corner, you can prepare for the season without spending a lot of money — and at the same time, help fund veterans’ programs.

The first thing you’ll want to look for at the thrift is cold-weather clothing. If you need sweaters, scarves, gloves or a winter coat, you can find them on the cheap at the thrift. Likewise with blankets, comforters and throws — and if you start shopping for such items early, you’ll have a great selection of stuff from which to choose.

You may also want to add a little fall flair to your home. Try a warm color palette and a harvest theme, Midwest Living says. Corn husks, mums, gourds, leaves and pine cones are among the many natural accents that suggest the season; use them creatively and emphasize red, brown and orange hues to celebrate autumn.

Halloween closes out the first full month of fall, and many thrift stores will have lightly used or brand-new decorations from last year that people either didn’t use or are no longer using. String lights, paper skeletons, plastic lawn decorations, you name it; they all wind up at the thrift for reuse. But they won’t be there for long!

The thrift is also a great source of raw materials for your Halloween costume. In no time, you can source the used clothing and accessories needed to cement your status as a disco dude, zombie, cheerleader or pirate. For something more topical, you can pick up a dark suit and an extra-long red tie fast at most thrifts.

Whatever you find, you’ll experience the thrill of the hunt and save yourself some money while helping the nation’s veterans. Donations of lightly used clothing, housewares and accessories made to ClothingDonations.org are sold to thrifts for resale, with all proceeds going directly to programs that help veterans access housing, health care and more.

So shop freely for all of your fall festivities! But don’t buy new — harvest some deals at the thrift!

Patriotic Craft Ideas for the Fourth

Posted on by Jordank

You may not have time to go all-out with Independence Day happening midweek this year, but you can still bring a few crafty touches to your home to make it more patriotic — and the local secondhand store will be a valuable source of materials. You can thrift a few mason jars to create Fourth of July lanterns, paint a patriotic shutter or create a clothespin wreath to celebrate the red, white and blue, Country Living suggests. More patriotic still, buying your craft materials at thrift stores supplied by donations to ClothingDonations.org helps fund programs benefiting the nation’s veterans.

Dedicate Your Donations to Veteran Benefits

Posted on by Jordank

With the help of donations of lightly used clothing, household items and other goods to ClothingDonations.org, the Vietnam Veterans Association (VVA) represents the nation’s 21.5 million veterans in Washington, D.C., to ensure that every one can access all of the compensation and medical benefits to which they are entitled. In addition, the association helps veterans one-on-one in filing VA claims, achieving financial independence and more. Your donations can go a long way toward fulfilling the promises the country has made to the men and women who serve.

A Few Things Donations Helped Fund

Posted on by Jordank

When you donate to ClothingDonations.org, you do more than get rid of unwanted stuff quickly and easily; you also help address the needs of the nation’s veterans. The Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) uses proceeds from the resale of donated goods and other fundraising efforts to contribute to veterans’ programs of all kinds nationwide.

For example, VVA funds helped co-host a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Town Hall in Asheville, N.C., last year to connect area veterans with crucial counseling and support services. Almost one-third of veterans who served in Vietnam have suffered from PTSD at some point since serving, and veterans of the Gulf Wars are likely just as susceptible.

In New York, VVA Chapter 11 helps veterans in trouble with the law manage mental health issues and re-adjust to civilian life through the Suffolk County Veterans Court. Mentors from the VVA-funded diversionary program have helped hundreds of at-risk veterans address criminal charges, convictions, substance abuse and other issues in the six years since it was launched.

VVA fundraising has now helped recognize every single veteran of the Vietnam War living in Indiana through the “Quilts of Valor” program, established in 2003. And in San Angelo, Texas, a Vietnam-era helicopter is being restored to mark the city’s Vietnam War Memorial after suffering non-combat damage at the city’s Fourth of July celebration last year.

So, whether you already took advantage of Presidents Day to start your spring cleaning or are just figuring out where to begin, know that all of that stuff you’re going to be giving away goes toward good causes—causes that help those who have served throughout the country. VVA appreciates your support!