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Post by joblackford on Apr 5, 2023 19:24:48 GMT
Here’s a video from one of the Sheetload Collab team members about making Sheetloads in bulk and donating some of them as craft kits. She has lots of videos about making cards in bulk and some handy tips and tricks for working faster and smarter. Her videos tend to be fairly short but show enough of the process to be interesting.
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on Apr 28, 2023 21:48:52 GMT
I don't see anything upthread about this. I don't know if this is new or even just a one-time thing, but Altenew has announced a card drive for Mother's and Father's Days: altenew.com/pages/celebrating-parents-card-driveRuns through April 30. April SLoC anyone? I've never heard of this before! Great find. Thanks for sharing  No, no this was NOT a great find. I am a goober. My donation just came back today. And when I look for the page on Altenew's site and read more carefully, this card drive was five years ago in 2018! I can't figure out how I found out about it. I can't imagine I went searching through their cobwebs on purpose. I can't imagine they accidentally sent an email about it. Maybe I was looking at one of the stamp sets they'd featured back then and it still linked to the page? Anyway, joblackford, if you haven't mailed anything, save your money. And I'm very sorry! |
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Post by joblackford on Apr 28, 2023 23:28:28 GMT
I've never heard of this before! Great find. Thanks for sharing No, no this was NOT a great find. I am a goober. My donation just came back today. And when I look for the page on Altenew's site and read more carefully, this card drive was five years ago in 2018! I can't figure out how I found out about it. I can't imagine I went searching through their cobwebs on purpose. I can't imagine they accidentally sent an email about it. Maybe I was looking at one of the stamp sets they'd featured back then and it still linked to the page? Anyway, joblackford , if you haven't mailed anything, save your money. And I'm very sorry! Oh no! oops. I was surprised I didn't see anything about it on their Instagram. ETA, no worries though. I'll just send them to Bring Smiles to Seniors |
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on Apr 29, 2023 9:56:04 GMT
I was thinking about that. I suspect it’s too late for Mother’s Day, but I’ll drop them an email today.
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Post by wendifful on Apr 29, 2023 18:30:03 GMT
I've never heard of this before! Great find. Thanks for sharing No, no this was NOT a great find. I am a goober. My donation just came back today. And when I look for the page on Altenew's site and read more carefully, this card drive was five years ago in 2018! I can't figure out how I found out about it. I can't imagine I went searching through their cobwebs on purpose. I can't imagine they accidentally sent an email about it. Maybe I was looking at one of the stamp sets they'd featured back then and it still linked to the page? Anyway, joblackford , if you haven't mailed anything, save your money. And I'm very sorry! , Jennifer McGuire linked to this card drive in her stories about one or two months ago, which I remember because I clicked on it and was thinking of donating too. I'd bet that's where you heard about it, or from someone else reposting her post. What a bummer to get your cards back though, waste of shipping $$$. |
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on Apr 29, 2023 18:50:26 GMT
Thank you, wendifful for sorting out that mystery. |
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Post by joblackford on Apr 29, 2023 20:59:49 GMT
No, no this was NOT a great find. I am a goober. My donation just came back today. And when I look for the page on Altenew's site and read more carefully, this card drive was five years ago in 2018! I can't figure out how I found out about it. I can't imagine I went searching through their cobwebs on purpose. I can't imagine they accidentally sent an email about it. Maybe I was looking at one of the stamp sets they'd featured back then and it still linked to the page? Anyway, joblackford , if you haven't mailed anything, save your money. And I'm very sorry! , Jennifer McGuire linked to this card drive in her stories about one or two months ago, which I remember because I clicked on it and was thinking of donating too. I'd bet that's where you heard about it, or from someone else reposting her post. What a bummer to get your cards back though, waste of shipping $$$. That's so odd! Altenew isn't even at the listed address any more, it's been so long. |
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Post by MichyM on Apr 30, 2023 17:24:52 GMT
I've never heard of this before! Great find. Thanks for sharing No, no this was NOT a great find. I am a goober. My donation just came back today. And when I look for the page on Altenew's site and read more carefully, this card drive was five years ago in 2018! I can't figure out how I found out about it. I can't imagine I went searching through their cobwebs on purpose. I can't imagine they accidentally sent an email about it. Maybe I was looking at one of the stamp sets they'd featured back then and it still linked to the page? Anyway, joblackford , if you haven't mailed anything, save your money. And I'm very sorry! I'm so sorry if this offends, but I am so amused by this. It is TOTALLY a "Michy" thing to do! <3 So sorry about the $$$ wasted on postage though. |
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on Apr 30, 2023 18:55:26 GMT
Not offended at all. It was pretty goofy!
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Post by joblackford on May 9, 2023 17:10:55 GMT
I'm gearing up to make lots of red white and blue postcards for a 9/11 day of service/foster kids charity. They're the usual A2 size but not folded, so you can get 4 out of a sheet of cardstock. And they don't want any sentiments on them, so it's a lot of playing around with flag-ish designs and colors, or abstract cardstock or stamped designs. Leaving the sentiment off is harder than I expected! If anyone would like to contribute to this card drive I can give you the organizer's email address for more info |
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Post by MichyM on May 9, 2023 17:51:46 GMT
I'm gearing up to make lots of red white and blue postcards for a 9/11 day of service/foster kids charity. They're the usual A2 size but not folded, so you can get 4 out of a sheet of cardstock. And they don't want any sentiments on them, so it's a lot of playing around with flag-ish designs and colors, or abstract cardstock or stamped designs. Leaving the sentiment off is harder than I expected! If anyone would like to contribute to this card drive I can give you the organizer's email address for more info I would. Last year I bought several stencils that would work for something like this, and I've picked up a few sheets of paper that would work as well. Thanks so much! PS: do you have examples of cards you've made in the past for something like this? Just to inspire those of us who haven't done RW&B cards before. |
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Post by joblackford on May 10, 2023 2:59:34 GMT
I'm gearing up to make lots of red white and blue postcards for a 9/11 day of service/foster kids charity. They're the usual A2 size but not folded, so you can get 4 out of a sheet of cardstock. And they don't want any sentiments on them, so it's a lot of playing around with flag-ish designs and colors, or abstract cardstock or stamped designs. Leaving the sentiment off is harder than I expected! If anyone would like to contribute to this card drive I can give you the organizer's email address for more info I would. Last year I bought several stencils that would work for something like this, and I've picked up a few sheets of paper that would work as well. Thanks so much! PS: do you have examples of cards you've made in the past for something like this? Just to inspire those of us who haven't done RW&B cards before. Yes Sure thing! Jill will be happy to send you some photos of examples too. Basically US flag colors, patriotic motifs are great but they are required, my friend Kate has used balloons, postboxes, kites, Mickey heads, as well as stars and stripes. This is one of the simplest kinds of designs I did last year. You could do something similar with ink, blended or swiped/direct to paper, or patterned paper or cardstock: http://instagram.com/p/CfEtVv3LekL Using patriotic collections but leaving out any of the elements with words since they'll be given in Sept not for July 4th: http://instagram.com/p/Cehlk8Bsp2F Any kind of cover plate die that you can inlay a cool red white & blue design into: http://instagram.com/p/Ce7fzDsrymP (If you click through to any of these it should take you to the point in my feed where I have other RWB cards shared from last year.) I've shared some of my recent stenciled designs on the board already I think. You can scroll a bit on www.flickr.com/photos/joblackford/ to see them. Some of my friend Kate's designs: http://instagram.com/p/B-UtAvZJf93 http://instagram.com/p/CeGist8uxDG They can be as involved or as simple as you like. Some of the organizer Jill's cards, very simple and fast: http://instagram.com/p/CrtZ2Impc-r You can duplicate designs as much as you like. She's supplying the charity with 5000 this year, iirc, and I think she has 2700-ish done or received. |
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on May 19, 2023 17:05:33 GMT
I can see now that some (most?) of you craft throughout the year and accumulate cards to donate, even for drives like Cards for Cubs that have a limited timeframe.
Of course I didn't do that last year because they were all new to me. Now I feel like I want to put together some sort of summary document outlining who wants what and when. Were I to so, would anyone else be interested in the results (and/or helping making sure it's complete and correct).
For Cards for Kindness, in particular, I think it's a little tricky because the types of cards they want tends to vary. How do other folks handle that? Do you skip donating to them altogether? Amass cards as you see fit and when you have enough to ship remove those they don't want? Sent all your cards regardless?
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Post by joblackford on May 19, 2023 18:38:11 GMT
I can see now that some (most?) of you craft throughout the year and accumulate cards to donate, even for drives like Cards for Cubs that have a limited timeframe. Of course I didn't do that last year because they were all new to me. Now I feel like I want to put together some sort of summary document outlining who wants what and when. Were I to so, would anyone else be interested in the results (and/or helping making sure it's complete and correct). For Cards for Kindness, in particular, I think it's a little tricky because the types of cards they want tends to vary. How do other folks handle that? Do you skip donating to them altogether? Amass cards as you see fit and when you have enough to ship remove those they don't want? Sent all your cards regardless? I tend to limit myself to a couple of regular "seasonal" card drives that I craft specifically for but give almost everything else to Bring Smiles to Seniors. I don't want to keep track of who wants what, if they need messages, what the deadline. I'm lazy that way! And it takes me quite a while to fill a large flat rate box for BSTS to get the best shipping value. Trying to sort for multiple charities with different requirements is too much for me in my space so I picked the group that said they will take almost anything. I think a guide would be very helpful for newcomers and occasional donators. I usually go to jesscrafts.com/card-drive-resources/where-to-donate/ if I'm looking for a guide but there's too many options there for me. Some charities have to be checked right before you donate anyway, like Send a Smile for Kids - they have a local contact who always ends up having too many of the kinds of cards I just made, so I gave that one up. Maybe the guide could be categorized/divided so it's easy to see the big groups with the loosest guidelines, the regular seasonal drives with fairly standard requirements, and then a list of links for the ones that are more picky or specific? I'd be happy to help with proofing or review, and I definitely think it's worth having. Maybe a google doc that can be periodically updated that people can access from this thread? |
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Post by kkrenn on May 19, 2023 19:18:36 GMT
I can see now that some (most?) of you craft throughout the year and accumulate cards to donate, even for drives like Cards for Cubs that have a limited timeframe. Of course I didn't do that last year because they were all new to me. Now I feel like I want to put together some sort of summary document outlining who wants what and when. Were I to so, would anyone else be interested in the results (and/or helping making sure it's complete and correct). For Cards for Kindness, in particular, I think it's a little tricky because the types of cards they want tends to vary. How do other folks handle that? Do you skip donating to them altogether? Amass cards as you see fit and when you have enough to ship remove those they don't want? Sent all your cards regardless? I would love a document of this kind. I have memory issues and no matter how many notes I take I always manage to flub up and send someone the wrong cards at the wrong time. Please let me know if there is a way for me to assist in the making of the list and thank you! |
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on May 19, 2023 22:22:46 GMT
I don't have a google account, so accessing google docs is kind of hit or miss for me. I don't know if that also means I can't create them.
It sounds like the main dimensions are year-round vs. regular seasonal and type(s) of card sentiments or categories (something like that) accepted and whether this is constant or varies. The only other thing I can think of is as strict homemade requirement, but I think everyone BUT Bring Smiles to Seniors has that, don't they?
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Post by joblackford on May 20, 2023 3:36:54 GMT
The only other thing I can think of is as strict homemade requirement, but I think everyone BUT Bring Smiles to Seniors has that, don't they? As far as I know, that is correct. It sounds like the main dimensions are year-round vs. regular seasonal and type(s) of card sentiments or categories (something like that) accepted and whether this is constant or varies. Yup, those basic parameters sound good. Size might be another factor but could maybe be boiled down to A2 only or accepts various sizes. I'm not sure how many charities accept only A2 cards. I think you could make a document in whatever format you like and then have one of us upload to a google doc. Or maybe there's a simpler way to share it. I was thinking of some kind of OneDrive or GoogleDrive type of thing (or DropBox?) because then we could edit it periodically and keep it up to date. But maybe we can just do that in some kind of post here. |
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on May 31, 2023 17:02:55 GMT
Don't know how many of us are on Cards for Kindness's mailing list. I am and got something from them this morning. I replied to it and asked about timeframes and types of cards. They replied with a good list of what they always need, their seasonal card requirements, when they start accepting cards for each season, and what they never want.
I'm about to go pick my mom up from the airport, so my home office/craft room this coming weekend will be in its third mode: guest room. I pulled out a little sentiment/flat embellishment reorganizing project, but that and this donation document will be it for me for craftiness for a bit. Should make good progress on this one.
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Ryann
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Post by Ryann on Jun 3, 2023 11:48:36 GMT
Don't know how many of us are on Cards for Kindness's mailing list. I am and got something from them this morning. I replied to it and asked about timeframes and types of cards. They replied with a good list of what they always need, their seasonal card requirements, when they start accepting cards for each season, and what they never want. I'm about to go pick my mom up from the airport, so my home office/craft room this coming weekend will be in its third mode: guest room. I pulled out a little sentiment/flat embellishment reorganizing project, but that and this donation document will be it for me for craftiness for a bit. Should make good progress on this one. Is the information from CFK something that you are able to share? |
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on Jun 3, 2023 15:29:29 GMT
Ryann I am working on compiling a document that would contain a list of all the charities currently active, what kinds of cards they accept, and when they accept them. I wasn't planning to share prior to that, but I can if you'd like. As I start to work on it, I think it's probably going to end up being a sort of two section thing, with the first part being a list of charities with contacts, description of what they're always accepting, and "see calendar" if they have seasonal needs. The second part would be a calendar of some sort with things like the start and end of Cards for Cubs card drive, when Cards for Kindness starts accepting cards for a specific season, hard deadlines for receipt of cards for a specific holiday, that sort of thing. I've gotten as far as starting to read through this thread from the very beginning and try to find each mentioned organization on the web. I've already run across two I can't find. I suspect that if I keep reading the thread diligently, I'll find other posts talking about them shuttering or giving new contact info. If I get to the end and still have some I'm wondering about, I'll post. And that will be the end of the FIRST step....
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Post by joblackford on Jun 3, 2023 15:33:33 GMT
Ryann I am working on compiling a document that would contain a list of all the charities currently active, what kinds of cards they accept, and when they accept them. I wasn't planning to share prior to that, but I can if you'd like. As I start to work on it, I think it's probably going to end up being a sort of two section thing, with the first part being a list of charities with contacts, description of what they're always accepting, and "see calendar" if they have seasonal needs. The second part would be a calendar of some sort with things like the start and end of Cards for Cubs card drive, when Cards for Kindness starts accepting cards for a specific season, hard deadlines for receipt of cards for a specific holiday, that sort of thing. I've gotten as far as starting to read through this thread from the very beginning and try to find each mentioned organization on the web. I've already run across two I can't find. I suspect that if I keep reading the thread diligently, I'll find other posts talking about them shuttering or giving new contact info. If I get to the end and still have some I'm wondering about, I'll post. And that will be the end of the FIRST step.... Thanks for doing this Shakti! PLease give us a yell/tag if we can help |
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on Jun 3, 2023 20:47:23 GMT
I just finished going through the JessCrafts blog post on donations that joblackford linked toward the beginning of the thread. I decided to quit after compiling the "US-based" part of her list. If one of our Canadian or other non-US Peas wants to start working an international list, that would be awesome. I did notice melanieg asking about Canadian organizations.... |
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on Jun 3, 2023 21:28:38 GMT
I have also decided to focus on places that will accept bulk donations of cards w/wo envelopes or inside sentiments or personal messages/signatures. I will be leaving out charities which are primarily seeking written letters or asking for an ongoing card-sending to a specific person or location on a regular basis and things of that nature.
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on Jun 3, 2023 22:04:55 GMT
OK. Missing in Action, so to speak, list:
Cards for Little Hearts was listed early in the thread, the URL given goes to a domain for sale message. Anybody donated here, know if they've moved their website?
Cards for a Cause was supposed to be run out of Split Coast Stampers forum, but I couldn't find mention of it searching the forum. Anyone know if this is still operating?
Caring Hearts seems to have not come back after taking the 2020 holiday season off. Anybody know any different?
Brighter Birthdays was listed in the Jess Crafts blog, but I can't find anything on their site (https://www.brighterbirthdays.org/about/) about accepted card donations. Maybe I missed it?
Cancer Support Services same as above, can't find any mention of card donations (https://www.cancersupportservices.org/needs-list). Did I miss something about cards here?
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Post by joblackford on Jun 3, 2023 22:35:55 GMT
Caring Hearts seems to have not come back after taking the 2020 holiday season off. Anybody know any different? I follow the organizer of Caring Hearts on Instagram ( wirianta) and she hasn't mentioned it in the past couple of years since taking a hiatus so I'm assuming she's done with it. I haven't heard about Cards for Little Hearts in the past year or two (or 5?!) either. Sorry, I'm not sure about any of the others. I would assume that they've changed their focus and Jess' list is out of date. It's hard to keep up with! |
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Post by melanieg on Jun 4, 2023 1:06:55 GMT
There isn't much up here in Canada that I can find. We have cards for soldiers but we have to send them individually to the main point and they forward them over seas.
There is a local group here that collects cards a Christmas for seniors. They then deliver a bunch to the senior homes around town.
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on Jul 18, 2023 1:17:31 GMT
OK, so first off, I know I stalled out on my ambitious project to compile the end-all, be-all card donation resource. I made some good progress and I promise I’ll get back to it and share.
In the meanwhile, I just happened across an email from Altenew from March 18, soliciting donations for their 2023 Celebrating Parents card drive. So there was one this year. But I looked off that email in April and couldn’t find it. And searching their website I found the original drive and outdated address. So weird.
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Post by joblackford on Jul 18, 2023 3:28:41 GMT
OK, so first off, I know I stalled out on my ambitious project to compile the end-all, be-all card donation resource. I made some good progress and I promise I’ll get back to it and share. In the meanwhile, I just happened across an email from Altenew from March 18, soliciting donations for their 2023 Celebrating Parents card drive. So there was one this year. But I looked off that email in April and couldn’t find it. And searching their website I found the original drive and outdated address. So weird. What a weird thing. I guess we can keep an eye out for a 2024 card drive, maybe they'll post on IG. Don't worry about the donation guide. It will be awesome when it's done but don't stress about it |
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Shakti
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Post by Shakti on Jul 18, 2023 9:44:32 GMT
I also plan to respond to the email, describe what happened, and ask their plans for 2024.
Altenew has pretty, pretty stuff, but I am finding much to be annoyed about in their business practices.
EtA:
While replying to the email, I decided to poke around a little more. The link in the email goes to their blog. If you search the blog for "Celebrating Parents" it's obvious that this is an annual drive since 2016. For some reason, the only year that has a page on the Altenew website (not blog) is 2018.
I don't know why there isn't a way to search over all their online content at once. I don't know why they mentioned it in one email message to their list with no follow ups or reminders or maybe a way to express interest in the drive and opt in for additional reminders.
Clearly I am not blameless in the debacle -- I should've done a better job keeping track of the email or maybe bookmarked the blog post or something like that. But they sure didn't make it easy to find this info, imo. I don't want to be so cranky-pants that I come off like a crazy person, but I'm not sure I should just let it go either. Or maybe I should?
EtA: I should just go at it from the angle of trying to compile a list of drives for my invisible friends and me, huh? I can say we missed this year's because I had trouble finding the right info, maybe mention my returned donation, but mostly try to get general information and mayb whether they do other drives I totally missed....
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Post by joblackford on Jul 18, 2023 22:16:34 GMT
I also plan to respond to the email, describe what happened, and ask their plans for 2024. Altenew has pretty, pretty stuff, but I am finding much to be annoyed about in their business practices. EtA: While replying to the email, I decided to poke around a little more. The link in the email goes to their blog. If you search the blog for "Celebrating Parents" it's obvious that this is an annual drive since 2016. For some reason, the only year that has a page on the Altenew website (not blog) is 2018. I don't know why there isn't a way to search over all their online content at once. I don't know why they mentioned it in one email message to their list with no follow ups or reminders or maybe a way to express interest in the drive and opt in for additional reminders. Clearly I am not blameless in the debacle -- I should've done a better job keeping track of the email or maybe bookmarked the blog post or something like that. But they sure didn't make it easy to find this info, imo. I don't want to be so cranky-pants that I come off like a crazy person, but I'm not sure I should just let it go either. Or maybe I should? EtA: I should just go at it from the angle of trying to compile a list of drives for my invisible friends and me, huh? I can say we missed this year's because I had trouble finding the right info, maybe mention my returned donation, but mostly try to get general information and mayb whether they do other drives I totally missed.... I think that’s the way to go - let them know we wanted to contribute but couldn’t find the info and that we sent donations to the wrong address because of that outdated page. When you told me about it I went looking on their Instagram (feed and saved stories) and couldn’t find any info at all. I think I looked in their site too and didn’t find any info in the obvious places, so I don’t think they’re doing a good job of publicizing it. But yeah, for our purposes letting them know that we tried to send donations and couldn’t might be good info for them. They could go back and edit that 2018 page or update it or remove it… it’s surprisingly hard to find/notice dates on webpages like that. |
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