Use your FREE samples to help storm victims!

So we talked about raiding our stockpiles and I showed you how to pack a medium or large flat rate box with items for the online donation drive. 

But all those smaller sized free samples we couponers get tons of are helpful too and can be sent as well. 

A SMALL flat rate box ships for $5.20 regardless of weight and is a great size for travel size toothpastes, deodorants, body washes, shampoos and those sample packs of medicine or lotion that we get!

Side note - I was SUPER excited that I had baby formula samples to take to the donation site yesterday!!! 

Not too long ago, I had decided that my samples were too hard to store, so I started using up the sample size shampoo, body washes and toothpastes just to get rid of all those tiny bottles.  So I was disappointed to not have more sample size stuff to show.  But I did have 4 shampoos, 2 body washes and some OTC medication samples.

I got them all in with some room to spare.  I could've fit some more shampoos or a couple travel size tubes of toothpaste.  Or a travel size deodorant.


Wonder where these donations are going?  I was just there yesterday!

Update on items needed for Alabama Disaster Relief!

Here is a list of items that are desperately needed for the disaster relief:

Baby food and juices
Diaper Rash Cream
Blankets
Can openers (manual)
Convenience food (snack type)
Diabetic Monitors with Strips
First aid kits
Gloves
Non-perishable food items
Over the counter medications
Soap Powders and Cleaning Supplies

NEW socks and underwear
trash bags
Sunscreen
Bug Spray


I've added all these to the master list here.


You can send donations to:
Diaster Relief
c/o FBC Moody
902 Church Street
Moody, AL 35004

For an idea of how to pack a medium or large flat rate box, see here.

Disaster Relief - your donations at work!

I am SO proud to say that I had a part in this online donation drive.  I stopped at the distribution center on my lunch break to drop some things off.  I asked if they needed another set of hands to help and they said sure! 

I jumped in on the food box assembly line.

Here was a portion of the area I was stationed in.  We were packing boxes with juices, food items (canned goods, jars of peanute butter and jelly, rice, pastas, individually packaged chips, crackers and cereal bars, cereal, poptarts, etc.) and paper plates, cups, napkins, bowls and utensils. 

Online Donation Drive Boxes rolling in - how EXCITING!

I was so excited to hear from Kristin at Couponing to Disney today that boxes have already started coming in from the online donation drive!

Our church received THIRTY boxes in the mail today!

(Thanks to The Dunns, The Larsens, The Wilsons, The Windholtz, The Wilders, The Torocheos, The Thayns, The Fairtys, The Traceys, The Barnharts, The Christian Gathering, The Frenchs, The Joneses, The Hilkers, The Becks, The Brownings, The Rylees, The Rosarios, The Johnsons, and all the readers who wished to remain anonymous!)

How exciting!

If you wish to contribute you can read about the online donation drive here.

I Will Praise You In This Storm

This morning in church we sang Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) and God Of This City (both great Chris Tomlin songs).  I couldn't decide which one I wanted to use for this post, but I kept going back to Praise You In This Storm by Casting Crowns.  I think it's very fitting.

 

I Will Praise You In This Storm

 I was sure by now

God, You would have reached down

And wiped our tears away

Stepped in and saved the day

But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

 As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

Update on items needed for Disaster Relief!

Here is an update on the online donation drive through First Baptist Church of Moody.  We are at the epicenter of one of the tornado outbreaks.

There is a dire need of flashlights and PLENTY OF BATTERIES.  One of our neighborhoods has been so completely devastated that they don't expect power to be restored for weeks.  (There is a list below of more items that are needed as well)

Our church has agreed to accept donations sent directly to the church and we will get the items where they need to be.

You can send your items to:
Disaster Relief
c/o First Baptist Church of Moody
902 Church Street
Moody, AL 35004

Online: You can ship items directly to the church via Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc. A few people have ordered cases of diapers, wipes and even food. Anything that you want to send would be appreciated!

Raid your stockpiles for Disaster Relief!

So I quickly scanned through my stockpile to see what I could pull out to donate.  Personal care (deodorant, body wash, toothpaste, feminine products, cough syrup, baby wipes), cleaning (wipes, hand sanitizer, dish soap), some snacks and clothes.  Technically, the clothes weren't in my stockpile - they were some of Bug's that were going to the donation bin anyway.

I live in one of the areas struck by Wednesday's tornadoes so I don't have to go far to donate my items.

But what if you live across the country?  What can you do?

Flat rate shipping boxes are available at the post office.  Medium boxes ship for $10.95 regardless of what you have in them.  Large boxes - $14.95.

Disaster Relief - you can help!

If you follow me on Facebook then you may have seen me posting about some serious weather in Alabama yesterday.  Hubs was at work and I spent a good three hours in the basement with Bug (close to our "safe closet") and at least a total of an hour actually in the closet.  We got hit hard.  MY town got hit.  We're fine here at our house but I have friends that have trees down in their yard, trees down on their houses, roofs blown off and second levels missing on their houses.  My church sustained damage.

This is the steeple to my church.  It is in the parking lot behind the church, 45 feet from the building it's supposed to be on.  The broken point that's missing?  It went through the roof of the sanctuary...  And that large piece of metal under the steeple?  That's an awning that used to be over a sidewalk in the front of the church.

Kristin, who blogs at Couponing to Disney, lives a few minutes from me and much closer to the majorly damaged areas.  She and another friend of mine live on the same street.  There is an industrial building and warehouses behind their neighborhood.  This was taken from our friend's backyard:

This line of storms spanning 7 states took a total of 298 lives and more than 163 tornadoes reportedly ransacked the south.  It was a scary day yesterday.  And now it's time for clean up, repair and attempts at putting lives back back together.


Those that have sustained major damage to their homes are displaced and in need of the most basic necessities!

Kristin has been working all day to set up an online donation drive through our church.  We will accept items to be distributed to families in need.