Announcing Our Amazing 2018 Stuff-A-Way! [closed]

Question

Mar 5 UPDATE: This order is proving a bit more laborious to expedite than our vendor had originally anticipated, so these boxes haven't been shipped out yet. Anyone who filled in a form should receive an email with tracking information as soon as their box is shipped. Anyone who didn't catch the email on time, please see this other post.

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Jan 30 UPDATE: JNat just sent out emails to collect addresses — be on the lookout for those, and try to fill it in the next two weeks! :)

Did you receive any gifts that you'd appreciate a lot more if they were actually something that you could use, or even wanted? Do you still have some from the last few years? Don't feel bad, we've got you. Curious? Read on.

If you're reading this, there's a good chance that you've got, well, stuff. We've got stuff too, in fact, we have so much stuff that we really need to make room to order new stuff. And in order to do that, we need to give it away.

But we feel kinda bad about giving people that have an abundance of stuff even more stuff when there are so many folks out there that really need stuff, especially in colder climates right now. Our branded flashlights, keychains, stickers, mugs, mouse pads, aprons, and things of that sort are super cool, but they aren't things that charities can use directly without burning additional overhead.

That's where the stuff-a-way idea comes in. Here's how it works:

1. You give stuff that you don't need to people that need it. That could mean dropping off some stuff to a charity, food bank, making a donation to a non-profit that can help people (if money is the thing you have too much of), handing a blanket and a cup of coffee to a homeless person, or whatever makes someone's life better than it was before you did your thing.
2. You write an answer to this question and let us know that you did something and tell us about your random act of kindness. You can share as much or as little as you'd like; we're going to take your word for it. In your answer, tell us what sites in our network you like the most (we'll go by where you participate if you don't).
3. We will send you a shoebox full of swag that you'll be sure to like. See what we did there? Everyone wins because:
   1. Those in need get stuff they can use immediately (things like mouse pads, aprons, pens, stickers, notebooks, and keychains aren't on that list, we're sure).
   2. You get rid of stuff you don't need. We empty our warehouse for the most part to make room for all new stuff. Your sweat equity is getting out to do something nice, our's is handling all the shipping of the goodies.
   3. You get stuff you want, in the form of a loot-box style package from us.

If you'd rather not receive anything, just say so. This event is structured so that we make sure giving is all about what the recipients actually need and the warm feelings from it come secondary (which is why we don't just bulk-donate thousands of dollars worth of stuff); beyond that, we're cool with whatever terms you like.

The rules

1. Any user of MSE in good standing is eligible, including employees, but only one entry per person is allowed. Likewise, prizes are limited to one per participant.

2. You must ensure that your email address associated with your account is current and verified by our system to receive your box. Not hearing back from folks is a big problem for this kind of event, so make sure the email associated with your account works, and is one that you check at least semi-frequently.

3. To participate, you must make some kind of needed donation to a person or charitable organization in need of what you have. Canned food for a food bank? Good. Old laptops for any educational purpose? Good. A bag of fast food for a homeless person? Good. We trust that you will do good things and not require adult supervision, please prove us correct there. Also, homeless shelters need socks, sanitary pads, diapers, etc - a little research in your area can go a long way.

4. Sweat equity is accepted as a donation (in which you go volunteer your time somewhere that meets the spirit of this event). Again, we trust that you'll make us proud of you.

5. This event will remain open until it's very likely that we're just about out of stuff to send. That could be a month, a week, or whatever. It's hard to say with these types of events.

6. Oh yes, the prizes! Boxes will include multiple things consisting of pens, sharpies, stickers, drink holders, aprons, battery packs, flashlights, mugs, mouse pads, staplers and other office supplies, games, shirts, hats and other items branded Stack Overflow or after other Stack Exchange websites. Some items will also include rarer prizes like hoodies, other branded outerwear and bags, books, and other surprise items.

7. While we'll ask for your preferences, we can't guarantee what's going to be in any given box. It's a mystery, but it will be cool stuff!

8. Our code of conduct applies to any and all activity related to this event.

Now, head to those closets, attics, or those boxes that might be under a pile of more appreciated gifts and help everyone get something that they want and need at the end of the holiday season this year.

While we hope to be able to do this again in the future, it'll depend on what we've got laying around. If any of our customers signal that they want to throw in some stuff to sweeten the communal pot luck, we'll update the post (I honestly haven't talked to anyone about this yet, kinda winging it, so check back occasionally for updates).

Commence the stuff-a-way! And, enjoy being good to your fellow living creatures that could use a little help right now.

Thank you, everyone!

The stories you've shared are full of great examples that we hope will inspire others to adopt new and creative ways of giving to those that need some help. From reminding all of us that donating blood can literally save lives, to ideas surrounding creative kits that contain essential supplies and some gift cards, you've given lots of folks great ideas and been an inspiration. This was an experiment, and because of you, it was a resounding success!

We'll be reaching out soon (really, allow the full 6 to 8 weeks here as this is a huge effort) and getting everyone that wants one their boxes of goodies. We'll very likely do something similar to this as part of Stack Exchange Gives Back next year, so stay tuned, and thanks again to everyone that participated!

Answer 1

My kids received so many presents last month! And they grow out of old toys, books, puzzles, games, and clothing so quickly.

I like to reduce, reuse, recycle, and donate. So one kid might get the other's hand-me-downs, and our friends' kids might get some things, but much of it gets donated to the local thrift store.

I even involve the kids by asking them what should go where because I want to start a new generation of givers. :-)

Answer 2

As part of the drive to give, and in the spirit of 10 Years of Stack Giving Back, I will also be creating a contest in contest here.

Make your vote count!

By the end of this contest, whatever the end score of this answer is, I will donate the dollar amount of the score to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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The contest has ended, and the total stands at 10, which is a little low, so I will just do 25. Here is the receipt:

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This has to be one of my favorite MSE events thus far.

Every year I donate to a set of charities, and then to one select place with a larger amount. For 2018 it was a local City College's Computer Science Department.

The money went towards three categories: scholarships for women, entry into the ACM-IPC International Collegiate Programming Contest, and sponsorship for a female student to travel to a conference.

However, that was prior to this contest so I figured I would choose some non profits to donate to as well for this specific event. The pictures below are from the receipts. Each link will take you to a donate page for the respective non profit as well if you too were interested in donating.

• St. Jude's Children's Hospital
• Wounded Warrior Project
• Doctors Without Borders

Answer 3

I spent a few hours of my time over holiday break preparing and delivery food baskets to people in need. The baskets were provided by the church and donations from the congregation.

Answer 4

I was very confused about sharing this story here as it was more of collective work and others were also there to sort it out.

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It started by forming a committee in our office where our aim was to help HR with all those fun activities as she was short of helping hands. And while deciding our first Christmas activity together in 2018, someone suggested we should do some charity work too and all of us come on-board. We targeted a few orphanages, but it was not an easy deal as during Christmas and new year they have more visitors and we have to get a dedicated day for what we have planned. So we come up with idea to target small scale orphanages where we can go easily and also help the one who don't get that much limelight for their work.

It was Shalom Home, an organisation which don't only keep orphan kids, but it also helps poor ones with their education where their real parents are able to educate them. We asked them to give a kid's wish list as our "Make a wish" secret Santa theme. And we got so many generous employees in our office who openly participated with either sponsoring gifts or money. Even a few came as volunteers. We just got instruction to not give expensive gifts as they want to keep their wishes grounded and reasonable as they are the kids who are not as lucky as us who can easily buy iPhones or iPads and raising expectation will not help them in long run, so we have to adjust them with alternative gifts.

The day when it was all planned fun committee member and with other volunteers arrived there. We met the head of Shalom Home who was a very nice guy and running the whole place with little helping hands and providing those kids proper education and also extracurricular activities. It started with their talent display with singing, dancing, and display of how well they were in playing those musical instruments which most of us can't even handle.

Then we had lunch and we thought to go with pizza. It was better; we got a chance to sit among them and have food. Those kids were very well mannered and it was delight for us to spend time with them. After food we started distributing gifts and there curious faces and the excitement reminded me of my childhood. After that we clicked some pics and they were very fun with poses :D I can't share them all here as I need to get permission from others but here is one glimpse:

Then we played fun games like musical chair and in the end, we met the uncle, and he got so emotional and said that he loved our visit and will expect us to come again some day.

To be frank I really thought to go again, but I never worked around it, but a year is already over and we as fun committee will be planning a similar event soon and I am so excited about it.

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My favorite SE sites are of course Movies & TV where I recently retired as moderator. And the second favorite will be Stack overflow which always come as helping hand with my work and then Science Fiction & Fantasy and Hinduism. And I do have an eye for the hoodie from long time ;D

Answer 5

I quite enjoyed reading stories of others good deeds so thought I'd share a bit of my own story.

My wife and I have a few chosen charities that we support but the main one we support, both financially and by volunteering, is our local blood bike group.

For anyone unfamiliar with what these groups do, we support hospitals by providing free emergency transportation of anything that will fit on the back of a bike as long as it will benefit patient care. Typical items we transport are units of blood/platelets, various samples, and patient notes. Blood bike groups cover almost the whole of the UK and there are many groups offering similar services around the world. More info here http://www.bloodbikes.org.uk/

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Another shameless plug for a charity I support is Ride To The Wall. If you're a biker in the UK I would encourage you to look at attending the annual charity event on the first Saturday of October each year. All funds raised go to supporting the National Memorial Arboretum. A beautiful national memorial to all our heroes who lost their lives in the line of duty since WWII.

Aviation.SE is my favourite StackExchange site though I'm also an regular lurker on Arqade.

Answer 6

Every month my Father and I save 10% of our incomes to buy warm socks, "कम्बल"s (it's kind of like a thick blanket) which we distribute among the not so fortunate homeless people living on streets during the brutal cold weather, like every year this year too we distributed them hoping it will be of some help.

This year we also decided to start contributing to a local NGO which provides free education to under privileged children in India, hopefully this will make a difference in at least one child's future.

Answer 7

Small efforts do make a difference

I've not made a significant contribution to the society since I left college 2 years back.

So, this happened just before I left the company for new year weekend.

There's a local vendor who stands outside our office premise and sells warmed nuts and bhelpuri at extremely generous price. It gets extremely cold this part of the year in north india. He does not own proper clothes to keep himself warm but stays till late to earn maximum amount.

On asking why he jeopardises his health, he said this is the most profitable time of the year and he wants to make sure he has enough savings before holi, when he goes back to his village to his family.

Since he would not take any monetary help, I gave him my spare jacket so that he can himself warm. Also, after lunch when my team comes back I make sure to sway the group near his stall so that people buy stuff from him.

Just sharing this to make a point that even small efforts can help a person more than we can think of.

Answer 8

I donated a video camera, various electronics parts and wiring, and a drone to our local hacker-space so they could be used by their members in the pursuit of STEM learning.

Answer 9

My wife and I moved recently, and rather than deal with extra boxes of general stuff, we chose to give away our excess electronics and clothing despite our recent financial stress. Most went to our local Goodwill, but some went to a friend who just had a child, some went to family, while some of the electronics went to our (now) nearby elementary school.

Answer 10

Good timing. I just received the last few parts I need to fix up an old gaming PC, so that I can give it to a young friend who's learning how to code. Also to stream old Nintendo games on the interwebs, but that's par for the course these days.

I'm mostly active on the Music Stack Exchange, which is an extension of doing various community music things in my spare time. I wanted to get better at explaining Stuff™, and it seemed like a productive way to help out.

I'd encourage all of you 20-somethings out there to get involved with the next generation. It's a lot of fun, and it really means something to the kids. It turns out that teenagers are just garden-variety people, so you can just talk to them. Nothing too challenging, even for stereotypical engineers like myself. And spending time with people is usually more valuable than just giving them stuff.

Answer 11

This post convinced me to organize and find some clothes I didn't use last year. Donated 10 t-shirts, 5 pants and a coat.

Answer 12

I got a new bicycle and gave my older one to Bike Athens, a nonprofit company which repairs old bikes and gives (or sells the nicer ones to pay its rent) bikes to those in need of transportation. They also have a repair-your-own-bike class and run mostly on volunteers to fix up old bikes.

I've also built a relationship with a couple of the homeless people in town through Athens PB&J which uses food as a medium to build relationships with the homeless in the city over time. It's a very slow process most of the time, but being in their life helps them have some (minor) form of accountability and helps them know that someone cares about them.

_{I participate mostly on GraphicDesign and StackOverflow.}

Answer 13

My wife and I have 4 kids and toys aplenty.

This year someone new to our area posted in a community group on social media they'd just moved to the area in adverse circumstances and didn't have resources for gifts for their young children. We had two different doll houses for our girls, and so cleaned the smaller but sturdier one up and gave it to the family as a gift they could give their kids.

Next year we plan to participate in a toy swap program for even more of our kids gifts where we give things away our kids aren't playing with, and "shop" for many of our kids gifts among things others are done with.

Less buying? Less stuff? More giving? More toys that get played with longer? No Toy Story 3 tales?

Yup, winning.

Oh, and Superuser is my home.

Answer 14

I am into books. My idea of a happy evening is a mug of coffee (yes, a cup ain't enough!) and a good book to accompany it with. Hence, at any instance in time, I have a lot of books with me.

Now, some fellow bibliophiles may disagree with me, but I like to donate those books instead of keeping them in my closet (why should knowledge be limited to those who can afford it?). I do keep the ones that are too close to me, but most of the rest go to the local community library we have going here in my area.

Because no soul should be deprived of books.

Answer 15

I donate 20 euro a month to UNHCR since 4 years right now.

When I started working 5 years ago, I took the habit to have breakfast in a bar with coffee and a brioche (the equivalent of 2 euro in Italy) every workday, because when I was student I couldn't afford this kind of expense. After a year I decided to quit this habit and give the equivalent month expense to people that really needs help. I chose to give the money to refugees because to me nothing is worst that loosing your house, your family and your country because of war and people greed's.

My favorite SE site is StackOverflow

Answer 16

My partner and I have been volunteering with a Harm Reduction organization for the last several months. For those that are unfamiliar, Harm Reduction, the way our org does it at least, is essentially peer to peer education about drugs, and health. We acknowledge that people are going to use substances, but that the harm associated with those substances can be drastically reduced by arming people with factual, unbiased information in a judgment free environment.

What does peer-to-peer education look like? Well, we travel all over our region setting up booths at clubs and festivals, and for the most part we just talk to people. Where the venue allows, we also offer no questions asked substance testing, free water, ear plugs, and condoms.

Substance testing is probably the most impactful part of our work. I can't begin to tell you how many lives are saved and how many emergency room visits are avoided by field testing. Most people who get adulterated substances don't know what they were about to put in their bodies. Once tested, we can have an honest dialogue about what the substance is, what the risks are, symptoms of overdose, risk of dependency, and so on.

One of the major things we look out for in the Harm Reduction world these days is fentanyl. One of the leading contributors to the epidemic of opioid related deaths. We provide free testing for fentanyl as often as we're allowed, and we sell take home test strips that are as simple to use as a basic litmus test.

I know that this kind of work is seen as falling into a gray area by some. People perhaps don't like the idea of "enabling", but to those people I usually say:

This is a public health issue. It doesn't discriminate. Rich, poor, young, or old, most everyone will know someone who has been directly affected at some point in their lives. By providing these services we can save lives. By simply educating people, we can empower them to make better choices.

Answer 17

I donated four units of blood to Red Cross this past year and I gave four medium boxes of unneeded clothes, pots and pans, and other items to Goodwill.

Answer 18

What: Platelets donation

To whom: ex-coworker diagnosed with leukemia

How: It takes about 3h , blood is drawn from one arm then the platelets are extracted using a machine, and the remaining blood components are returned to you through the other arm.

Why: Not everybody can donate to anyone, it demands compatibility. He needed 10 people and was looking urgently for donors. I was (and in fact I still am...) terrified of blood donation, but then when you stop to think, your agony is nothing compared to the good it can do to others.

Consequences:

• Since my blood (O-) is "universal donor" I decided to become a regular donor.
• Also, I became a bone marrow donor (and everyone should, you just register yourself as available for donation, and if ever someone is compatible with you [odds are 1 in 10.000] you can save a life).

To be honest, I am neglecting my blood donation, I am taking way more time between each donation, but since this post reminded me of how simple can be to help others, I scheduled donation this saturday. ;)

^{Following @avazula's idea, I also free handly covered sensitive information}

Answer 19

I helped purchase a bike for my company's annual Toys for Tots bicycle drive. In addition to the bikes pictured, money was raised to purchase 40 more bicycles!

I use Stack Overflow the most.

Answer 20

When you grow up, you outgrow clothes. It was the same case for me too. Whenever there were enough clothes, my mother sold them in exchange of utensils. One day, when my mother was selling those clothes, I saw a homeless kid of my age wearing worn out pant. So, I took one pant out of the bundle and gave it to him.

After that a tradition started. Whenever I get a handful of clothes to give away or see a person in need, I give those clothes to them. I mostly do this in winter when people are in need the most. There were some sweaters and a pant this time, which I donated just last month. Since I don't take pictures of me giving stuff, so can't post one.

I am giving my entry here so I can give away stuff I might receive. :)

_{And my favorite SE sites are Stack Overflow, Movies & TV, and Interpersonal Skills, regardless of order by the way.}

Answer 21

I was fortunate enough to land a pretty good software development job in 2017, and since then I've been blessed with some disposable income. In 2018, I donated over $1500 to various charities, but mainly to St Jude's Children Research Hospital and Hilarity For Charity (a charity for Alzheimer's research/patient care) My grandmother has Alzheimer's/dementia and it has been pretty tough for everyone in the family, so that cause is especially important to me, and St Jude's helps children pay for and fight through things that no child should ever experience.

It's been hard for me to dedicate my time or resources, but I do have the extra income to at least help that way. So here's to another year of donations! In honor of this post, I'll be making my first charitable donations of 2019, starting with $100 to St Jude's and $100 to Hilarity For Charity!

Thanks for everything you do at Stack Overflow/Exchange. This community is an amazing place! I mostly hang out on Stack Overflow, but I'm also fond of the Superuser and Ethereum communities as well.

Answer 22

As most others have said aswell, this is an amazing idea and a good way to help those in need! I approve big time!!!

Now for my own story, just like some other people in this thread I donate my blood. I've been doing this for around a two years now (I got into it right as I turned 18) and I still have no regrets. It was a very easy decision for me since my blood comes back eventually so I don't lose anything, and it can help people stay alive. Feeling like a tiny superman over here!

I'm also a full organ donator and I'm even donating my brain to research facilities (both only when I pass away though, I kinda need them to live for now).

I highly encourage everyone to join this trend aswell. You do so much good and perhaps you'll even save a life or two, what more could you want?

_{My favorite Stack Exchange site has to be Stack Overflow}

 

Warning, spoiler contains a photo of me donating blood. If you're afraid of needles, don't look!

Answer 23

This year my wife and I were hosting a New Year's Eve party and about 11:00 PM we realized to our horror that in the midst of the end-of-year rush we forgot to do our annual charitable donations. So I pulled out a laptop and got the donations done, amidst much hassling that I was both a super-nerd and a super-procrastinator.

Needless to say, donating to charity after boozing it up all evening is a recipe for, er, unadvised levels of generosity. ;-) For the good of humankind it's a good idea, but not for the good of your bank account!

My favorite beneficiary of our drinks and cash sloshing around was an online donation to sponsor sending a civics class of charter school kids to Washington DC. I have zero connection to the school or the teacher-- I found the requested sponsorship via Google. But at 11:50 PM it seemed like a great idea to ring in the new year... with civics! The teacher responded with lots of gratitude but I'm sure she was thinking "WTF?"

Friends: don't let your friends drink and donate! Actually, do, because it's good for us all.

P.S. - Thanks Stack Overflow for building a force for good in the world of nerds. I'm old enough to remember developer support before SO and it was expensive, crappy, or often both!

Answer 24

My wife and I always scrounge together as much cash as we can around new years to donate to a cause we want to support. This year, we donated a few hundred dollars to Maggie's Place to help fund utility costs, buy material/food needs, and help procure transit for mother's in need.

Founded in 2000, Maggie’s Place provides life-changing programs and services for pregnant and parenting women and their children by offering a warm and welcoming community, a safe place to live and learn, and on-going services to help them become self-sufficient.

If you feel inclined to help, you can support their cause here.

^{I use Bio.SE the most, followed by SO, CV, Academia, etc. (see my profile for full usage "ranking").}

Answer 25

The partners of our work welcome the opportunity to donate to the community, so I and a few coworkers prepare and donate older computers to families and organizations that work with families that cannot afford computers instead of tossing them in the recycling pile. I did not keep track of the quantity we donated so far but it is probably over twenty. We have 24 to go for 2019 so far.

We tear down the computers, clean them, thermal paste them, and put newer/lightly used HDDs in them as we replace HDDs with SSDs at work.

We would donate any of the stuff we receive to those organizations as well. The sixth grade class for example raises money for a trip every year of which we currently help.

Answer 26

I tend to accumulate quite a number of surplus electronic components, sometimes I have to order more than I need for minimum order quantities, sometimes projects get cancelled and other times it's just components and microcontroller development boards that are perfectly fine but just no longer recommended for new designs.

Rather than binning them or saving for an unlikely rainy day during the year and currently I've been putting them into grab bags and offering them on Freecycle and to anyone else I think might be interested along with a description of what sort of age / experience group they are likely to suit along with several related electronic books / magazines. It's been good to see them going to a lot of kids with a keen interest in electronics along with a few older folks looking for something new to experiment with.

Answer 27

First of all I congratulate for encouraging others who has done some noble cause Or inspire them to do in future!

We should always help poor and other needy.It doesn't matter you pocket allow it or Not.

Recently in our office we collect cloths of our colleague which they are not using for long time and occupied their wardrobe.

One of our senior suggest we should collect all cloths and should distribute them to small village near to us.

We requested all the team member to bring them in neat condition with iron and collect at office.

We distributed them to required people.

Really when they smile, you fill proud

I like magento.stackexchange.com and I am only active there!

Answer 28

Throughout the year, I have occasionally visited senior activity centres to interact with the seniors and learn more about them. In recent years, I’ve made it a point to visit the same activity centre throughout the year so that we can be familiar with one another and I was always able to learn something new from them.

I’ve also donated daily necessities to community centres as I believe in sharing and the importance of giving and the community spirit.

Lastly, towards the end of the year, I often participate in walks conducted by an organisation whereby they would donate 2 bowls of rice every 200m walked. (I’ve just participated in this again 2 months ago.)

I have thoroughly enjoyed such events and I’m glad to do my own part to contribute to my community.

Answer 29

Like many of us here, I also believe that social responsibility is a continuous process, it's not a one-off activity. So, I do whatever I can to the best of my abilities to have it spread around the year. None if the contribution is great / big on it's own, but cumulatively, it makes a difference (at least, I hope so).

• In my workplace, I am part of a program which is called "Power of One" where one buck is deducted from my payroll everyday and contributed towards a charitable fund, which is then used for the social activities for underprivileged children (clothing, books, medicine and some toys). Oh, and as employees, we do volunteer for those activities.

• Being a citizen of a geographic where English is not a first or second (not even third, in some places) language, it is difficult for some people to be able to communicate in English (at least, spoken) at a later stage. This creates problem for students in their academic progress (not all the schools use English as teaching medium), this create problems for people living in a metro city and working as small vendors (roadside shops, stalls etc.), daily labors and alike. Being in a city where more than 60% residents are outsiders, there is literally no common tongue other than English. I am part of an initiative taken up in our apartment by the residents, to run some evening classes for anyone who is interested - to teach basics of English and communication, so that they can go out and live freely, without a fear of being "left out". [I could only join during the weekends - due to work timings].

• Recently, when I moved to a new accommodation, while packing there were many stuffs I found which were just lying around and I never actually used them. I had given them away to the underprivileged kids who used to come to play in the ground next to my apartment - some water bottles, two old backpacks, notebooks, some old hoodies, t-shirt and trousers. That day the kids were very happy and allowed me to bat at the very first (we were playing cricket) when I went to play with them. That happiness and smile on their faces - it's just priceless. :)

Thanks for reading this long ... none of the acts are great singularly, but all small steps, combined together, can change many lives around us. I will continue to being part of these activities and will try to involve more, as time permits.

Thanks to all of the contributors here, and to those also who did not create a post but still reaching out to help the humanity - Kudos.

Happy new year 2019 - onwards!!!

Answer 30

An online community I'm a part of of Warhammer/miniature wargame players put together a drive to replace the collections of about 16 folks who had lost their things in the Camp Fire in California. Collected some kits that I had been saving for "someday" projects and sent them on to people to hopefully help them rebuild a small part of what they lost.