As you clear out your garages and basements for the summer months ahead, consider donating your old bikes to Namibia Bicycles for Humanity. This initiative by Ridgeview Elementary School in West Vancouver has a goal of sending 400 bikes to people in need to Walvis Bay, Namibia. Bikes can be dropped off at the school this May 2 or 3.
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How do you define value? In the case of holding onto clothing and personal possessions, often it is emotional. One day…What if… Consider for a moment, value expressed in terms of usefulness. So, if you have not used something as it was intended and it is just lying around taking up space, would that not be a waste?

What if a piece of clothing or accessory you have wasting away in your closet could be worth thousands of dollars?

Here is a charitable organization that you may not know about. This Vancouver-based initiative might be just the charitable cause and motivation you need to assist you in letting go of the “What If…” in your life.

Working Gear is as a non-profit society that undertakes the work similar to that done by Dress for Success. Dress for Success works with women of modest means who are unemployed, by providing them with professional clothing in which they can attend job interviews and start a new job.

Working Gear does the same type of work with a focus on providing support and help to men in the Vancouver downtown and downtown eastside. They solicit business casual clothing and construction clothing and redistribute them to men who are making a serious attempt to return to work. This is a free service provided in tandem with local employment service agencies.

As you undertake to loose those last 10 pounds (the same ones that you have been trying to loose for the last 10 years), you might consider a fresh start by donating your never and under-used dress shirts and ties, business casual clothing, or steel-toed work boots.

Doing so might create the opportunity for an under-employed person to start a new job – a job worth thousands of dollars in income – a job that might not have been accessible to someone because they did not have interview-appropriate or work-site appropriate clothing to wear.

In an effort to provide you with some options to consider when purging and passing on your gems, we will highlight new finds to give you some options to consider.

Used Books New Start is a campaign created by Adam Hill to help with Canadian and global literacy programs. Access to education and books is critical in the fight for literacy.

In the week of February 4-8, 2008, corporations throughout Canada will be asked to participate in the ‘world’s largest ever corporate book drive’. The goal is to collect one million books. These books will be resold by Better World Books and the proceeds will then fund select literacy programs such as Room to Read.

We often keep things because of the value they represent in our lives, despite the space it consumes. Letting something go is easy to some, but for most, the ‘what a waste’ thought comes to mind as one imagines their precious goods lying in the landfill.

Our city recycling programs have come a long way in making it easier for us to recycle paper and plastics, but there are may items that do not go into the Blue Box.

If recycling or donating eases your conscience and allows you to let go of items cluttering your home and work spaces easer, you may want to consider the following alternatives.

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The end of the year invariably brings with it a time to reflect on the bounty of possessions that we have enjoyed throughout the year. It is a time to look back at the fortunes that have come our way and in many cases, realize the excesses that has cluttered our lives.

Often, my clients ask me how they can ‘get’ their children to let go of their ‘stuff’ and clear out their rooms.
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Here’s a worthwhile cause you can attach yourself to with good conscience. We are often hesitant to purge our prized possessions, thinking that one day…, what if…, and what a waste in the land fills….

A friend of mine Sean Jamieson, an investment planner by day, and Boy Scout leader by night/weekends, is collecting School Supplies for school kids in Grahamstown, South Africa. Their troupe, Burnaby 4th Southwest, will be sending a container load to South Africa to give children the tools to learn in school.

Consider donating your office supplies for a good cause. Paper, pens, pencils, rulers, scissors, staplers, hole punches, chalk, and more are needed. If you are a corporation who has just re-branded or moved and have old letterhead, and old logo office supplies, what a worthwhile cause to recycle your paper for.

Have a look at the Boy Scout Troup and their collection to date, in this picture.

You can contact Sean to make arrangements for your donation, by calling 604.941.4697.