Our wonderful friends at Yesteryear Cyclery are hard at work. Got a bike that is in good shape and want to help a local child have it?
What makes a person spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars every year, re-purposing, repairing and giving hundreds of bicycles away to local children in-need?
Ask Kim Camara of Yesteryear Cyclery why he does it, the next time you see him!
Nathan Turner receives the Gold Presidential Service Award
Nathan Turner is not your average young man. Nathan was acknowledged by President Obama for the President’s, Gold Volunteer Service Award.
Nathan has completed over 3,000 hours of volunteer community service. We’re so proud of Nathan. Nathan is a Junior at New Bedford High School and has been volunteering with us since he was in the 6th grade at the Roosevelt Middle School.
Jim Stevens, CEO and Founder of GiftsToGive said “ Nathan inspires us to do more and to be better. He is truly a bright and shining light and a most perfect example of giving and service. When we talk about young people making a difference, we talk about Nathan Turner!”
The New Bedford City Council honored Nathan on January 22 (See video below)
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Emma
We met a most remarkable, twelve year-old on Saturday. Emma is a student at Kickemuit Middle School. For her CCD Project, she collected enough things for us to be able to help several dozen kids who don’t have the basic things they need. We asked her why? What this amazing twelve year-old told us, inspires us to do more and be better!
“My grandfather is a long time high school coach and every season he has had his sports teams spend time volunteering at the GiftsToGive facility. Over the years the teams have also conducted book, toy, clothing and new sock drives.
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Abby collected over 600 books for her mitzvah project.
Thirteen year-old Abby redefined giving, she collected and made a gift of 600 books as part of her Mitzvah project!
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Other photos HERE
It’s one thing for us to talk about what we do, it is entirely a better thing when a student volunteer talks about their experience. We are so proud of the students from Cardinal Spellman, and even prouder, if that is possible, of Charli.
Changing Lives One Gift at a Time.
By: Charli Carey
My name is Charli Carey, and I am currently a junior at Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton. While preparing for our annual service day, several of my classmates and I struggled with the decision of which service site to volunteer at. Last year, as a sophomore, I volunteered at GiftsToGive, and knew that I wanted to volunteer there again, this time as a junior. I spoke with several of my classmates about what they were expecting when they volunteered to serve at GiftsToGive.
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17 November, 2017 at Acushnet, Massachusetts
Jim Stevens
CEO and Founder, GiftsToGive
OK – so it started off as a regular Wednesday morning.
I woke up, made my coffee, squeezed my orange juice, got on the elliptical bike, did my six miles, got in the shower, dressed and sat in my den to read the overnight dispatches and review my calendar and “things to-do list” for the day.
The morning I had been waiting for was here! An 8:45am meeting with a 4th grade class to talk about philanthropy.
I arrived at the Elementary School on time and was escorted to the basement. I knew something was up, that something was wrong, because the last time I was there to talk to the 4th grade they took me upstairs. Upon arrival in the basement, I was introduced to a pre-school class of 4 year-olds! Oops! I had the 4 correct, but it was an age designation, not a grade level. Twenty minutes later, I had twenty new friends and future voters, parents, leaders and philanthropists. I left feeling like it was the best morning I have had, so far, all year!
The Berkley Girl Scouts Strike Again! This past week, Berkley Troop 75329 came back for a visit bringing a car-load of new toys for our Birthday Program. Photos here.
Here is what one of their leaders had to say: “Berkley Girl Scout Troop 75329 volunteered at GiftsToGive during our philanthropy badge back in January. The girls spent an afternoon from their winter vacation and processed clothes for children in need. Their afternoon made a significant impression on them.
Recently the troop had our annual cookie sales and the time came for the girls, ages eight and nine, to decide what to do with the money they had raised. Instead of using it for themselves, they decided to use a portion of their profits to buy toys for children in need and bring them to GiftsToGive. They could have decided to use them for anything, but GiftsToGive and their education on philanthropy made such an
impression, that they were compelled to give back to children less fortunate than themselves.
We just spent two days with students from the Rocky Hill School in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
It’s become an annual two day field trip and what’s the best for us is that we get to see students grow – not only in size and maturity but in their coming of age and increased connectiveness to giving and service. Photos from their service days are here.
Rather than explain more – we’d like to share what student Hunter Corbett had to say – ” Our annual Rocky Hill sophomore trip to GiftsToGive is one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year. The upperclassmen fondly remember their excursion, and this year’s trip did not fail to live up to our high expectations. I think everyone in my class left with a desire to do more to help people. I know I am definitely going back to GiftsToGive to volunteer again in my free time.
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Thomas, Allison and Sierra
Thomas, Allison and Sierra are students at U Mass Dartmouth. They’re also representatives for Greek Life on campus. We’ve partnered with the Greek Life Council at UMD to help us connect middle school students to giving and service. We’re starting with their working together on Saturdays at the factory.
Thomas Leman, Student leader had this to say – “Today, we were able to take a few short hours and work at something that’s making life easier for children throughout the SouthCoast. As Greek life students (Phi Sigma Sigma and Chi Phi), we know how fortunate we’ve been to get to college and find familial support in our organizations. We now have a chance to help those less fortunate than us and to be that support for the young boys and girls who volunteer at GiftsToGive. We can be examples of hard work and perseverance to empower other student volunteers to do well in school and life. We look forward to being repeat volunteers and mentors to influence and foster greater success for local youth!”
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A story about her visit with her classmates, from Emma. Photos from their day are here.
It’s a Saturday in Acushnet, and a group of students from Rising Tide Charter Public High School are spending it sorting clothes. Rising Tide’s Community Action Club has been planning their December 19 trip to GiftsToGive for weeks, and twenty five students arrived in the sprawling warehouse building excited to work.
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Tabor Academy student Wendy Liu accepted the assignment of reporting back on her group’s volunteer experience yesterday. Here is what she had to say – “September 22 may be another mundane Tuesday for most students, but not for those at Tabor. Today was our Service Day which takes place every semester; students and faculty members volunteer in various places, one of which is GiftsToGive.
Some from Tabor have been to GiftsToGive multiple times, while others stepped into the factory for the first time today. Caitlin, a junior to Tabor, is new to this activity. Today she sorted clothes for adults and kids. She recounts that the most difficult part of the job was to decide what to re-cycle because she wanted to “keep everything.” In addition, the day at GiftsToGive has been influential, for she believes that their Directors’ empowering speech makes people “reevaluate [their] circumstance[s]” and rethink how fortunate they are.
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In walk four year-old Tobias and six year-old Galen, with dozens of brand new toys and books to donate. They told us a remarkable story, that their parents had helped them celebrate their respective birthdays; Tobias with a swim party and Galen with a football party. They asked their friends to bring an unwrapped present for GiftsToGive to help local children who were not as fortunate and would not get a birthday present!