What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Tornado Talk & An Idea!

Hey - Long time, no chat.  I've been in a bit of a funk lately.  I haven't found any junk, we haven't been on any journey's, so I haven't had anything fun to talk about.  Then the tornadoes came and wiped out Joplin then more tornadoes the next day that took out towns to the South of us.  It's really been scary stuff.  And, the news is just so damn sad every night with stories of heartbreak and missing people.  Tonight, a Mom was still looking for her 12 year old son.  She knows he is gone, but she can't bear the thought of him outside on the ground being cold.  And they found a ten year old boy with a collapsed lung wandering in a field today.  No one knows where he has been or what he went through.  He came home to discover his Mother had died.  It just kills me to hear these stories.  Therefore, the funk.

But, I have an idea!

If you are elsewhere in the USA and would like to help the people of Joplin, you can send $ to the Red Cross.  If you want to help and you trust me (which I hope you do and will) you can send a small amount to me and I will use it to buy hygiene items and food to donate locally.  There are truckloads of items going out practically each and every hour.  I promise to buy only items that are on the current wishlist.  Right now those items are flipflops, extension cords and manual can openers.  I never would have thought of any of those items, so it is nice that the workers are releasing updated lists.  There is also a need for food, of course.  If you are interested in helping, email me at monkeybox at juno dot com.  You don't have to donate - it's just if you are wishing that you could do something, but didn't know how to make the most of your money.  If ten of us kick in $10, that's $100 that I could use to buy the items that are needed.  A little bit from a lot of us would really help.  Thanks! 

***Oh my GOSH - Thank you for all the response.  I am so happy that everyone TRUSTS me!  If you want to send it to PayPal, please mark it as PERSONAL so I won't lose a penny in fees.  I'd like to go shopping and have it donated by next Wednesday.  If any more money comes in after that, I will just do it again!  (I even scored a huge bag of trial sized items at a yard sale today from a friend of mine to add to our donations - for FREE!) 

5 comments:

  1. Shara, I've been thinking about you and your little corner of the world with a heavy heart. Thank you so much for posting a way that we can help directly--I was going to ask you about that! I know that we can donate to the Red Cross but I would also love to know that my donations are directly being used to fulfill someone's needs.

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  2. Joplin is the hometown of a friend who lives here. The damage is just heartbreaking. So sorry you are in a funk but I think that's to be expected in a time like this. Helping the survivors is a great way to spend your time. Hang in there!

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  3. Wish there was something I could say to cheer you a bit. GREAT idea on the donations - I'll be contacting you directly!

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  4. I almost can't stand to watch the news anymore. The stories out of Joplin are so horrible, and so are the stories out of Oklahoma. Especially the two young boys from one family in Oklahoma who were ripped out of the mother's arms by the tornado and both were found deceased. It is so heartbreaking and I don't think it's over yet. We do our donations directly, but bless you for helping!

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  5. The devastation and loss of life has broken my heart! I am emailing you so I can help what little I can! hugs, Linda

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