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Donating Kids Books:
a Guide to Help You Get Started
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Over the years, we have helped many clients find the best place to donate just about anything (including the kitchen sink). Our
Donation Resources page has lots of ideas for Portlanders!
We recently had the honor of supporting the Children's Book Bank in Portland,
helping to repair donated books for children and families in need. The Book Bank is dedicated to supporting early literacy in low-income families.
We are SO proud to support them and provide some guidelines about what they and other similar organizations are looking for.
If you are not in Portland and want to find your local Children's Book Bank, we recommend contacting your nearest library for more information about how you can help.
For improving early literacy, here is a list of their greatly needed items. This is a also great guideline for donating to any children's book bank nationwide.
- Books for K - 3rd grade level
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Multicultural and Spanish language books (to celebrate their 10-year anniversary, the Book Bank released the following wish list of diverse books.)
- Board books
- Picture books
- Alphabet books
- Books about numbers, colors, animals, shapes and words
- Story books
- Rhyming books
- Chapter books for elementary school students
Here's an organizing tip: When reviewing children's books, we recommend starting by organizing them into two piles: those that are sentimental favorites, and those that are not. Then, review the sentimental favorites pile and make sure that you have space to store them and see if any can be transferred to the donation pile.
To donate the remaining books, pack them neatly into a box and drop them off at the Children's Book Bank's warehouse location at 1915 NE 7th Avenue
Portland, OR 97212. You can also mail books in, and their mailing address is
2680 SW Ravensview Drive, Portland, OR 97201.
We hope this message helps energize you to review your children's books and give back locally!
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Book Review: The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker
Review by Veronica Bishop
In his new book,
The Minimalist Home, Joshua Becker of
Becoming Minimalist dives headfirst into the daunting task of educating Americans about how much stuff we own, and how to free ourselves from it. As a big fan of Becker's work, I was super excited by the opportunity to get an advanced copy and be one of the first to review it!
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Imagine this: a master closet full of only items you truly love.
Believe it or not, this is a very attainable goal! So this month, we decided to delve into a small but vitally important area of the home: the master closet. Albeit not quite a room, we are counting it as one, since the closet plays such an important role in our homes.
For many, the closet represents our sense of self, style and comfort. An organized closet also represents calm and order, even when we don't feel particularly calm and orderly on the inside. A tidy closet helps us enter into a clear, organized brain space in the mornings - a vital component to starting the day off right.
CONTINUE READING...
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Local Resources and Events
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Fix-it-Fair
Saturday, November 17th
Repair PDX will be hosting their next fix-it-fair on November 17th! They will be on site, fixing small appliances, mending garments and repairing bikes for free! Get that broken item out of your garage and into use again (or just donateable!). To let them know what you're bringing, please click
HERE.
Date: Saturday, November 17th
Time: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Location:
Madison High School
2735 NE 82nd Ave, Portland, OR 97220
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Local Charity Spotlight:
Sunshine Pantry
Sunshine Pantry is a family-run food bank that focuses on feeding the hungry. In addition to collecting food donations, they also accept gently used items for babies and children. Donate car seats (unexpired), toys, cribs, strollers, and all kinds of clothing items, especially children's clothes.
Check their
website's donation page for a list of current needs, and call to arrange a pick-up of donations. Their address is:
Sunshine Pantry, 10895 SW 5th St, Beaverton, Or. Call them at
971-506-7827.
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Coat, Food and Toy Drive
November is a great time to declutter and organize your pantry and coat closet! And just in time,
Hope Sparrow Services of Lake Oswego is hosting their yearly coat and food drive!
You can find drop-off receptacles in businesses around Lake Oswego, which look like this one at Levison Dental. Hope Sparrow Services is the "
compassionate outreach arm" of Hope Community Church of Lake Oswego. You may also drop off coats, non-perishable food donations and toys for children at
Hope Community Church of Lake Oswego, 14790 Boones Ferry Road, Lake Oswego, OR 97035
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