You Rock

I apologize for the late nature of this post. Tiffany and I both had vacations staggered one after the other, right after our collection.  So, here it is.

First off, THANK YOU.  We think you rock.

We were so pleased with how many of your dropped off items at our park get-together and before/after the drop-off.  We filled the back of an entire manly-man truck.  (Which was it's own comical site as Miss Girly Girl Tiffany manned up to drive the behemoth)

I'm not sure there's a good way to quantify how much we collected.  It was definitely substantial.  And it made me feel extremely grateful. We filled up a good portion of Tiffany's basement. (and thanks to her for acting as the U-Haul and storage unit)

We recently sorted through all of the items so that we could ready the drop-off for Rescue Haven, The Road Home, and Women in Jeopardy.  We had a huge range of items - from household goods to brand-spanking new baby diapers.

As I loaded my husband's Toyota 4Runner with the items and subsequently dropped off at my two destinations (The Road Home and the YWCA), I was overwhelmed by your generosity and by the good fortune that we were able to add a little more kindness to the world.

All the institutions we donated to also expressed their thank-yous and great amazement at your generosity.  Just at the YWCA alone, they currently had 105 women and children in immediate crisis, as well as other families in transition.

You made a difference.  Mothers will have not only the things they need, but a few fun extras as well.

To the next donation!  Thank you again for all you do.

Welcome to The Surplus Project

What is The Surplus Project?  It began one day when I was cleaning out my house and realized how much excess I lived with.  With the addition of a cute new baby, I had been the beneficiary of the goodness of friends and family.  Of course, I also had plenty of things I had purchased myself.  The result? Clutter.  But my clutter was gold to a mother and child in need.  New clothes, toys, and unused diapers that were just sitting around my house could mean a moment of joy to someone in need.

The next "aha" moment occurred when I tweeted the question as to where to donate.  Locally in Utah, we have D.I. (Deseret Industries) but I wanted these items to go to mothers and children in need.  The response was a bit overwhelming.  There were too many places to choose from.  None more than deserving than another.  As a mother, my heart broke just a little at my conundrum.

Thus began The Surplus Project.  Why donate to just one?  In America, we are blessed with an overabundance of material goods.  Why not share the bounty?  Or at the very least, donate the items sitting around your house sitting unused? You can think of it as spring cleaning if you like.  Either way, people are in need and what better cause than women and children in crisis?

I joined forces with Tiffany Spegar, aka @foodfinery, and here we are now - ready to spread the love!

So here's what you can do to help:

• Donate needed items
• Donate funds
• Blog about The Surplus Project
• Tweet about The Surplus Project
• Post on Facebook about The Surplus Project

You can find a list of needed items here.

Collected items/funds will be given to the following places:

• YWCA: Women in Jeopardy
• Rescue Haven 
• The Road Home 

Thank you in advance for your support.  Please feel free to contact us on Twitter at @alisonjherzog or @foodfinery or comment below.