Birthday Blessings is now Bright Blessings

To reflect the fact that they support homeless children and mothers in many ways, the awesome charity Birthday Blessings has changed its name to Bright Blessings. To see their current wish lists, go here.

Charity Profile: Crisis Assistance Ministry

Crisis Assistance Ministry is located just outside Uptown Charlotte and helps families and individuals struggling to make ends meet. You can request financial assistance from them if your electricity or gas is in danger of being cut off or you're facing eviction. If you'd like to donate money to help this program, visit them here.

But what if you don't have any funds to donate right now? Well, if you're like a lot of people (including myself), you're probably working on a New Year's resolution to get organized and declutter your house. Crisis Assistance can help you out by taking your gently used stuff off your hands and making it available to those in need. They run the Free Store, which allows people to visit every other month (more often if they are homeless) and pick up clothing, household goods and personal care items, allowing them to spend their money on other necessities. Drop off your stuff at 500-A Spratt Street, Monday-Friday from 8-5, and Saturday from 10-4. They even have a drive-through donation lane, so you don't even have to get out of your car. Make sure to check their website for all the details. Don't forget to get a receipt for next year's taxes!

Charity Profile: Charlotte Rescue Mission

Prior to the holidays, I had heard of Charlotte Rescue Mission, but didn't really know exactly what they did or who they assisted. But I read up on them when I found out about their Christmas dinner (see my previous post here), and I really think it's a great organization that has urgent needs that you don't typically think of when picking up items to donate.

Charlotte Rescue Mission is a faith-based organization that supports homeless or about-to-be homeless men and women kick their addictions to drugs and/or alcohol and rebuild their lives. They provide substance abuse counseling, help them with other health issues, work with clients and their families to help repair their relationships, and help clients find jobs and get back on their feet. They run Rebound, their program for men; Dove's Nest, their program for women; and a men's halfway house to give greater support to their clients transitioning out of the program. They claim 75% of their clients remain clean and sober after one year, which is pretty impressive to me.

CRM has a very long list of needs, but considering all they do, it's not surprising. To see all their urgent needs, click here. You can often find OTC medicines for next to nothing or even for free at Walgreens, CVS and Target. I will post these deals in the future with a reminder to pass them on to Charlotte Rescue Mission. Take a look at the list and you'll see there are lots of ways you can give!

Charity Profile: Birthday Blessings

I have to feature Birthday Blessings in this week's Charity Profile, because I think it's such a neat idea. In 2005, Amy & John Cervantes of Charlotte started Birthday Blessings as a way to encourage their kids to give back to others in need. It's grown a lot since then, and now they serve the greater Charlotte area and are trying to take their giving to a national level.

Birthday Blessings has 3 programs: Shelter Parties, which enables children in local homeless shelters to have a birthday party with cake, snacks, party games, presents and goody bags; Student Birthdays, which gives elementary- and middle school-aged kids in unstable housing situations (kids living in motels, campgrounds, etc.) birthday parties at school, complete with cake, presents and goody bags for their classmates; and Blessing Baskets, which provides homeless mothers of newborns with laundry baskets full of baby clothes, diapers, and other necessary supplies. Now, how can you not love this charity?

Please visit Birthday Blessings' Support page to view all the things they need, as there's just too much to list in one post. They need gift cards to Target, Walmart, Dollar Tree and other area stores, gift wrap, laundry baskets (pick some up for $1 each at Dollar Tree!), size N diapers, and much more. If you're like me, you want to give all year long, not just during the holidays. Birthday Blessings is definitely worthy of your help.

Charity Profile: Loaves & Fishes

This is the first Charity Profile post on Couponing for Charity. I plan to spotlight an organization in the Charlotte area each week, explaining a little bit about what they do and what you can do to help. If you know of a charitable group that you think deserves some extra promotion, please let me know in the comments below.

If you've lived in the Charlotte area for even a short time, you're probably aware of Loaves & Fishes. This local charity consists of 18 food pantries across Mecklenburg County, and according to their website, served 102,638 people in our community in 2009. Clients are recommended to Loaves & Fishes by other community agencies, and if they are approved, L&F will provide them and their immediate families with a week's worth of groceries every 30 days. Their goal is to help people in crisis get back on their feet.

Loaves & Fishes accepts donations of food, personal care items and baby care items (diapers, wipes, formula, etc.). You can drop off your donations at any of the 18 pantries. Please click here to find pantry locations and hours of operation. Their priority needs are:

- Canned fruit

- 100% juice

- Pork & beans

- Peanut butter

- Canned meat

- Soup

A really easy way to help this week:
Harris Teeter: BOGO Skippy Peanut Butter, 15-16.3 oz - $2.79 ($1.39 each this week)
- .50/1 or -.75/2 Skippy Peanut Butter, Red Plum 11/14 insert, exp. 12/12 (coupons double with VIC card)

= as low as .39 a jar if you have the -.50/1 coupon!

This is a great way to help feed a young family without spending a lot of money! Please consider picking up some extra peanut butter to donate when you visit Harris Teeter this week.

- Thank you, Southern Savers!