SC Donations tracker-helping Canadians and Canadian animals in need

[Ciel21]

A day late in the creation of the thread, but it's a worthy topic as Smart Canucks do donate funds and items to help other Canadians experiencing need with food insecurity/shelter/medical expenses/loss of personal effects due to fires and even basic clothing/personal care items. As well, many individuals care about animals, whether they are their own or other Canadians' pets, animal rescues supporting veterinary costs/food/rehab, or even livestock relocated from wildfire/flooding/severe weather events and needing emergency feed/shelter/veterinary care to continue.

Thanks to @crafter suggesting this thread to track Smart Canucks' donations!

Primary focus of thread:
Can we backdate the donations to cover donations from September 2021 onwards, as we are likely to still have remembrance or tracked expenditures from Back-to-School campaigns/appeals this September?

Quantifiable donations:
-$ value known of money donated in person/online/via friends & family to any Canadian registered charity/organization providing food bank/food hamper/community meals to Canadians or volunteer group/entity providing community fridge/food programs for residents in need. This category can also include money donated to cover a meal or set of meals for specific meal programs (regular giving or specific holiday or community need campaigns, whether a set number of meals is determined necessary or set $ goal is required to provide the program)
-$ value of actual food items donated to Canadian food drive/local community entity or group/persons experiencing food insecurity
-$ value of any loyalty program redemptions used towards donations to assist Canadians or animals in Canada in need
-$ value of any basic needs (non-food like furnishings/apparel & footwear/utility or shelter or rent payments/medical costs and medications/transportation costs like bus fares/cards/school supplies sponsored through Canadian campaigns (social media/free classifieds/community organizations or groups)
-$ value of any animals in distress/medical care or rehab/food donations in Canada

Non-quantifiable donations but still worthy of tracking because Smart Canucks care about helping other Canadians:
-freely given new or secondhand clothing/furnishings/mobility aids/crafting items to Canadians in need (might be items once used but no longer needed or someone gave them to you and you want to pay them forward to someone who can use them). This includes freecycle/clothing drives items/special needs items for persons with disabilities.

-donated pet food and supplies, livestock feed and supplies and tools to Canadian organizations/volunteer groups (many that rely on private donations to provide care and daily needs for animals in need)

Secondary focus-discussion of donation trends including processing costs for online donations, how we are finding donation appeals, and community fridges/pantries to give food-insecure Canadians self-service access to foods/personal care items they select.

Smart Canucks, let me know if there's a need not listed above that you'd like included.

A couple of issues that I am aware of but that might run into forum rules:

One recently-discovered community fridge (new to me) is run by a place of worship (so it could be seen as a religious topic, rather than a resource open to all residents in the area being served) with set hours of access and specific food donation criteria that meet its specific dietary rules.
A frequently mentioned concern by individuals accessing food bank programs is lack of control over the food items/quantity received, state of product or prepared items donated by businesses to food bank (spoilage), or inappropriate food items for medical/religious dietary needs.

Cannot promote things on the forum. So I ask that we don't mention specific organizations in our posts (maybe share in PMs if another forum member in an area would like to know) but do mention the province where donations are made. Also, try to provide privacy for persons known to you that you have donated.

[Ciel21]

#MutualAid is a hashtag I've seen on Twitter used by persons with disabilities requesting donations to cover food/personal needs/medical items or costs/wishlists of requested items. Donations can be made by transfers (through a payment portal/e-transfers) or via purchases of wishlist items if donors are registered users/subscribers to the sites where wishlists are located.

November 2021:
#MutualAid donations-$88 & $100 to Ontario person
-$8 donation to Ontario person's medical surgery (not covered by OHIP; campaign is just over 1/3 of its stated $ goal)

September/October 2021:
Wishlist donations of requested items (some food/requested items): $35.03 & $23.81 & (need to see what I recorded)
Local food bank donations of personal care items/food:

Related donation/fundraising cost discussion: I have noticed that some platforms (min $ donation required and must be in whole Cdn dollar amounts) or registered entities are asking donors to cover the processing fees (% or set fee or combination) in order to ensure entire amount of donation goes to the need in question. Not an issue if you know your debit card or credit card can accommodate that fee. However if you are using a prepaid credit card, you need to have enough balance left for those fees or adjust the donation amount to make the numbers work.

[crafter]

Well done @Ciel. Hopefully others inspire with their generosity as well.

1)Value $120 My Mom gave a cool gift to our DDs, she adopted 2 acres of Conservation area for each of them, it also included a plush toy animal. https://www.quinteconservation.ca/en...t-an-acre.aspx

$35 approx value food donation Sept

$40 approx value food donation Oct

$30 approx value food donation Dec

Diabetes Canada clothing donation

With meat/fish/protein products becoming so expensive, I want to try to focus more on these areas going forward. I think I'll try to look for deals combined with points or airmiles offers.

[Ciel21]

Forgot to mention clothing/textiles donated in October to local community drive, plus spent textiles eligible for rag program as well!

Plan to donate new car seat cover and bottle of unscented baby shampoo to local entity running a food bank--usually there are requests for consumable baby supplies or foods. I figure there is someone local who might be able to put them to use.

[crafter]

Another way to help make an impact is via the P&G website. Ontop of accessing coupons.
You can do surveys, scan you receipt for 50 points per product or refer friends (5)

So far I've earned points and helped with 23 days of clean water (you can choose your cause).

It's a cool way to make an impact buying everyday items.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[lilo0003]

I support several initiatives in Northern Canada so I spent today hunting for deals at Michael's and Party City that will save me $$$ in the Fall and everything was 70% off so the more deals like that the more I can support. This is for the Christmas envelops that we send to schools and this Christmas I did 120 students so I need to buy as much as possible when its on sale.

[Ciel21]

Along with the aforementioned two baby items, I added the new Brita pitcher just sitting at home. I figure someone might want to filter the City tap water for whatever need they have and my space is freed.

[crafter]

Along with the aforementioned two baby items, I added the new Brita pitcher just sitting at home. I figure someone might want to filter the City tap water for whatever need they have and my space is freed.

That's a cool donation @Ciel

[flemeth]

I usually do a few different donation at different places.
This year I donated at the Animal shelter both cat and dog foods
Did the women shelter with personal hygiene
Youth shelter with personal hygiene
And the local food Bank.

Still have some stuff at home that needs to get to the food bank that I bough this last week