SARA WRITES: Who knows of humanitarian organizations where you can drop off donations? Preferably in Utah?
I want to start a project where I collect backpacks from friends and family members, along with clothes, toys, bottled water, school supplies, hygiene products, etc. to send off to third-world countries. I know that humanitarian work is my calling, my mission in life, and my purpose. I know that if I don’t start now, it will be harder to get involved later on. Although I’m young at just thirteen, I know that if I take one step of faith at a time, God will help me succeed.
I heard a story of a 13-year-old girl doing this exact same thing. She collected 600 backpacks and sent them off. I want to do that, but I don’t know where to drop them off or where I should send them.
I love helping people, and I want to do this very badly. I’ve got most of this figured out, except for the drop-off part. I have no idea what organizations take those kinds of things, and if there are some, most of them aren’t in my state, Utah. I’m in northern Utah and if anybody knows of places to drop backpacks off to where they are needed, I would be very grateful to you!
If any of you know, please let me know.
Thank you all!
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Hi Sara!
You could use some of this stuff (probably not the bottled water) to pack your own Operation Christmas Child boxes (https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/), or you could donate them to an Operation Christmas Child processing centre where they go through the boxes, adding things if necessary and packing more.
Or, you could give the backpacks to a foster care system of some sort (http://orphanjustice.com/2013/05/day-22/).
One pointer though: A lot of ministries would often prefer money to more cheaply buy exactly what they need in the 3rd world country.
Hope you find the right thing!
-Heather
Thank you!! I have looked in to Operation Christmas Child and that might be fun in the future, but it’s not what I’m looking for exactly.
In the future you should probably hook up with an existing mission first, so you can meet their specific needs, and be more effective.
But for the stuff you have now, look for homeless shelters in or near your city, ask around in your school (there are undoubtedly kids who’d be thrilled to get a good backpack, you could probably get a teacher or principal in on it), and of course you’ll want to check to see what organizations your church is already supporting so you can get in on that. And what Heather said (duh).
One more thing, it probably won’t be cost effective to send a ton of stuff over seas so you might want to focus more on sending financial support. (You could have a garage sale with donated items or something).
Oh, and be super careful when you’re picking who to support. Not every effort is helpful and some do a lot of harm, so be thoughtful, read each mission statement (ect.), and pray a ton. Good luck!
Thank you!!
You could try contacting New Soul Ministry. http://www.newsoulministry.com They’re based on Salt Lake City Utah, but I went on a mission trip with my school through them to Peru. It is a christian organization with no denominational affiliation from what I can tell.
Awesome! I’ll look into that!!
OKAY attention everyone!! I’ve found an organization: The LDS Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake City. I’ve volunteered there before and I think it’s what I’m looking for. Thank you for all of your support and ideas!!
<3 <3 <3
~Sara