one of the best things about saving is giving.

I love donating items to food banks and charities.  Every month I send my older daughter to school on Food Bank Friday with bags full of groceries to donate.  I give food and health & beauty supplies to Rosie's Place, a shelter for women and children in Boston.  If a table for donations is set up at the grocery store, I love to leave boxes of cereal with them as I leave.

Today I learned about Couponing for Community, which is a group of people who are hoping to donate 10,000 items to charity from May 8-14, 2011.  I'm really excited about being able to join in this challenge.  I was already planning on putting together a large donation for Showers for Shelters, which is a campaign conducted between April 23 and May 8 to collect house wares and personal necessities for victims of domestic violence who are preparing to transition from a shelter into living quarters of their own.

I love that these two programs will overlap, and I'll be able to donate to one, while helping to add to the total of the other!

I invite you to help me in donating to charity from May 8-14.  It's as simple as leaving a bag full of nonperishable food items at your mailbox on May 14th for the Stamp Out Hunger national food drive (check with your local post office to make sure they're participating first).

Do you donate goods often?  I'd love to hear about it!