Stoop Sale For A Cause: Helping Others Eat

You should have come. Then again, you may have a second chance..

Spring Stoop Sale
To support Heifer International(www.heifer.org)

Sunday March 22, 2009
1:00-3:30 p.m.

Jersey City


Come shop, guilt-free....
Instead of donating the items, we are teaching about charity in a different way.
The proceeds of our sale will go to purchase livestock for a family in need ( hopefully a pig, goat or sheep) through Heifer International)


Boy clothing bonanza (ages 0-5)..
(some items..raincoats, winter jackets, rainboots, shoes and all manner of pants, shirts, onesies, etc.)


Toys
Books
Maternity clothing
Bouncy Seat
Gymini
and more

Homemade cookies for sale too!

It has been nearly six years since Izzy was born and I have yet to part with much of his belongings. From minuscule onesies and blankets, to his size 5 pants now too small, our house is awash in kid paraphernalia. Toys, books, puzzles and more, it was finally time to bid some of Izzy's things adieu.

I wanted to make it a charitable event but instead of donating the items or just giving them away, I was looking for a twist, something Izzy might be able to wrap his head around. I had heard about the organization, Heifer International and how they donate livestock to families in third world countries. There programs have been enormously successful, as this story suggests. On their website one can choose to donate various animals such as sheep, pigs, goats, geese or cows to families in need. Animals seemed like a perfect way to introduce a child to the concept of charity.

So I explained to Izzy that the goal of our sale was to donate money to buy an animal for a family in need. We discussed which animal we thought would be best. His heart was set on a stinky pig but we talked about how a sheep provides, wool, milk and perhaps even meat. The merits of cows were also considered.

We spent many afternoons gathering and sorting the items for sale and Izzy was very involved in our "project". By Thursday he was counting down the days and today we spent the morning schlepping things down the steps and out onto the stoop. I baked the NY Times chocolate chip cookies for him to sell and we put them in a tin, fresh from the oven. The only thing that didn't really cooperate was the weather. Today was too chilly and overcast and I feared out sale would be a washout.

Izzy was in charge of reeling in passersby, handing out fliers and calling out. Luckily, enough friends and acquaintances came through and bought up a bunch of stuff. Izzy made $23 in cookie sales (his domain) and we made $110 in other stuff (just short of our $120 goal which would pay for a sheep). When I explained how we needed just $10 more, Izzy agreed to donate $10 of his money to achieve our goal.

One of our neighbors tipped me off to the fact that Oxfam, another organization which fights world hunger, donates livestock and does so for less. We could donate a cow and a sheep for $120! (Anyone have any experiences with either organization which might aid in our decision?)

It has been a long exhausting day and after schlepping more than half of the sale items back inside, I am now faced with what to do with them. We have many beautiful things left which I would love to set out for another stoop sale but I am not sure I can live with them piled up inside until the weather gets warmer, in a few weeks.