Nestie Claus??

femmegem

Speaking of being financially strapped during the holidays, anyone up for Nestie Claus again? E and shopgirl, and shot in hell the two of you could help organize again? I will contribute, but I wouldn't ever claim to be together enough to put something like that together. E, I know you have a newborn, so you have a good excuse if you don't think you can manage it.

veloelle

You'll get a PM in a few.

j-w

I did not participate last year.  But, can someone remind me of how it all worked.  Was it just cash donations?  Was it clothes/toys/etc?  Maybe a brief summary would benefit everyone!

femmegem

Eclaires and shopgirl (I think?) got names of people who needed help and then names of people who wanted to contribute. The contributors did whatever they could- gave money, gifts, etc. Money was collected by eclaires and then split evenly between everyone who needed help. Gifts were sent directly to people by the ones who contributed (they were matched up by the organizers).

I think that's how it worked. But anyone who can remember differently should feel free to jump in and correct me.

goodheartedmommy

I think it was kevschickee and eclaires.

eclaires

Last year we didn't get it together, but the year before we did.  Basically we did pretty much everything - cash donations, and clothes, toys, etc.

We used a google doc spreadsheet and put those in need on there, with name/address/kids' ages/genders/sizes and what they wanted.

Then we had everyone who wanted to contribute/help, email the nestieclaus address w/ what they could donate - whether it be something gently used that we could match up with a family or if they wanted to buy new but needed to know size, toy wants, etc.  They were then given the name/address/size/info so they could buy for the family or pass on something they already had.  We also accepted cash donations and for the cash donations, we waited until about 2w before Christmas to close that off, and then divided the money per kid (so families that had 2 kids got double the amount of a family w/ 1) and sent visa gift cards to each family.

We also used the spreadsheet to keep track of what each family was getting, so if someone emailed saying they wanted to buy a gift (angel tree like), then we could match them with a child to keep it even.

The email address and paypal account are still active.  I like to think I'd be able to help coordinate at least...but I might need more help depending on how many people participate.  The board is a lot smaller now.

CTFandme

I want to play!  I want to be a contributor!!

Goose51504

B - I'm feeling generous and will totally help you organize things or do most of the leg work, if needed.

Goose51504

B - I'm feeling generous and will totally help you organize things or do most of the leg work, if needed.

DandelionMom

I've got stuff to donate but I suck at organizing!