What a coincidence!

[AngieDoogles]

I have been meaning to sign up for my local Freecycle for quite a while now, but hadn't gotten around to it. I was reading a post on 4wt recently where someone (I think Kate) mentioned it and so I went and signed up. No better time than the present, right?

Well, I placed my first item that I was going to give away, a love seat that my friend gave to us when she moved out of her dorm. She didn't want it and neither did we, but she just couldn't stand to part with it since she'd had it all through college. We took it so she would know that it would be used. We've been trying to find someone to take it since then without much luck. Anyway, I posted it on freecycle and got several responses. I picked the person I wanted to give it to, based on her grammar (I'm a grammar nazi...) and her reason for needing it. I read her email to Brendon to see if he agreed with my choice and when it got to her name he was like "Michele? And it said she needed it for extra seating when her parents visit from California in a few weeks?" I told him yes and he was like "woah, I wonder if that's Wayne's wife. Her family is from CA." We looked at the email address and sure enough, the names were Wayne and Michele *and their last name*. Crazy how that happened!

So the person coming to pick up our love seat, chosen at random from freecycle, turned out to be someone we know. Small world I guess!

[katepoet]

That is just too cool, Angie!

I am having fun with it, most of the time. I hate when someone doesn't show up for a pick up, but for the most part, they have been great.

[Mandy]

Awwww thats very nice. We have something similar here where we can donate used things to, i have done it several times, it's good to know, someone else is making use of it.

[rivermom]

That's pretty great Angie! It was meant to be....

I used to work at a free cycle paper company when I lived in California. It was called "The Recycler". Not sure if they still have it or not. Had such a blast working at that place!! :cool:

[Marilyn]

I never heard of this concept. Sounds interesting!!!! Will have to check it out.

[highlans]

Oh my god angie you must have a field day with my grammer:D my son is always correcting me and my spelling.

[AngieDoogles]

Oh my god angie you must have a field day with my grammer:D my son is always correcting me and my spelling.

Well, it's different on a forum, but in an email to someone you don't know, I kind of expect the person to at least TRY to be grammatically correct, you know? Some of the responses I got looked like a kindergartener wrote them! I guess for me, it's a sign of respect to take the time to do it right. (Kind of like my other thread about being late...) I'm weird about things like that. :o

[AngieDoogles]

I never heard of this concept. Sounds interesting!!!! Will have to check it out.

You should Marilyn! It's really great, but you do need to take precautions since you will be meeting up with people from the internet. Make sure your husband is home if they meet you there, or even better, meet in a public place! Michele and Wayne are coming to our house, but only because we found out that we know them. We decided to go ahead and make dinner for them while they're here as well, so it should be fun.

Anyway, you can go to www.freecycle.org (http://www.freecycle.org) and type in your hometown and it'll link you to your local freecycle.

[DianaB]

I checked out the site. I had never heard of it but it was really neat. One of my daughter's is moving out this week and, I know she's going to need some stuff. I'll have her post some wanted ads on there and see how it goes!! Thanks, Angie!!!

[katepoet]

Just FYI - the first post must be an offer. :)

[AngieDoogles]

That's true Diana. They do make you post an offer first, just so that people don't come and try to get stuff for free and never offer anything in return. It shouldn't be hard to find something to offer though. We all have old clothes, curtains, furniture, baby toys, or something that we need to get rid of, right? ;) I hope you are able to find some things to help out with your daughter's move!

[DianaB]

I have a lot of "stuff" in the basement that I could offer!! Thanks guys!!!

[AngieDoogles]

I have a lot of "stuff" in the basement that I could offer!! Thanks guys!!!

Have fun, but remember to be safe!

[katepoet]

Don't forget that what you don't feel like freecycling, AMVETS will pick up and leave you a receipt for taxes. You just call their 800 number and ask what dates they will be in your area. I put 4 bags out by the mailbox last week on Thursday morning and they were gone within an hour as scheduled. I had called them the week before for a date. 1-877-726-8387

[judy]

What's AMVETS? I finally figured out how to get onto freecycle. It's fun. I'm going to have lots of stuff to get rid of if I ever clea out my closets.

[katepoet]

AMVETS - American Veterans - is a service organization that focuses on veterans issues. http://www.amvets.org/ There are a lot of organizations that do good work and accept donations, this is one of them. It's nice that they pick up at your door or curb - makes it easier on my back! And during times like these, their fight on behalf of our veterans is valuable.