National Volunteer Week

If you have dollars to give, hooboy does your charity of choice ever need them now. Please give. But if finding two cents to rub together is the joke of the day? Share of yourself in a different way. This coming week, charities across Canada are honouring humans that help! Volunteer Canada notes, “Participating, contributing and volunteering helps to create connections, community and belonging.”

Canadian charities function in no small part because of the folks who believe in, and give their time to, them. Around here we have the happy luck of seeing the effects of this across the country. As April has unfolded we have seen hundreds of charity posts spreading gratitude for their volunteers.

Folks like you and I are at-the-ready to fix, haul, create, sort, drive, cook, sing, or slop out a horse stall. We clean riverbanks and transport wildlife. Some babysit and others run whole summer camps. We offer compassionate care in cancer clinics and diabetes classes. Some bravely champion human rights.

The Mayo Clinic gives us some clues about why this kind of caring keeps us coming back for more:

1. Volunteering improves physical and mental health.

2. It provides a sense of purpose and teaches valuable skills.

3. And it can nurture new and existing relationships.

Looking for a place to start your own volunteer experience?

Our little team here loves working alongside vehicle donors. Our business serves Canada-wide in this one specific way. In our down time we find places to give back by supporting the causes we personally love, too. For me, this comes in a couple of different shapes. For example, I sing in a “memory choir”. This unique non-profit is set up to match volunteers with folks living with memory loss in the form of dementia or Alzheimer’s. The science says that when we sing in community it’s super duper good for brain health and mental wellbeing. I have to admit, I joined the choir to volunteer for the sake of others, but the benefits for me have been unquantifiable!

Are you looking for a ready-made community built around volunteerism? This might be one place to start: “Volunteer Canada is leading the development of a comprehensive National Volunteer Action Strategy. That strategy will help to ensure that all people in Canada have pathways to participation that support the shifting ways people connect in their communities. We can support your organization with tools and resources to effectively engage community participation and support a broad range of diverse volunteers.”

A go-to hub for us here at Donate a Car Canada?

We LOVE CanadaHelps! Did you know that they champion over 80,000 charities on their website? If you already have a clear focus for where you would like to give your time and creativity, CanadaHelps can point you in the direction of the group or organization that needs you!

You can even take a boo at our “Charities” tab on our own home page. There you’ll find hundreds of charities that need Unique You. ‘Love animals? Your local SPCA or wildlife conservancy would love your support. ‘Drawn to hospital care? There’s a place for you with your local foundation. The same goes for libraries, health-based charities, and children’s groups. Volunteer with seniors, the theatre, or literacy advocates. Whatever caring cause you love, there’s a place for you.

Whether you are an individual, a faith group, a book club, or a business team, this is your time. Get out there and show Canada what you’ve got this National Volunteer Week!

The post Creative Giving | Pockets Full of Holes? Volunteer! appeared first on Donate A Car.

Canada Post strike taking the tinsel out of typical seasonal support

There’s something about the magic of the Christmas season. It opens us up to giving just a stitch more generously than we do at other times of year. This season is of great significance to charities from Coast to Coast. Holiday donations account for a substantial percentage of their yearly budgets. The Canada Post strike is rippling out to cause a slow down in this critical stream of funding.

Would you like to be sure that your helping funds get into the hands of the causes you care about? Consider getting creative!

How to give when Christmas mail is on pause

The Canada Post strike brings the value of this service right to the forefront. During the Christmas season, many folks choose to mail in their annual donation. This ensures their beloved charity is well supported, and it also allows for a last-minute tax receipt, year end.

The mail being on pause does not mean that the needs being met by charities across Canada are on pause. Food and housing security are at risk for so many of our neighbours. These are tough times, and food banks, shelters, and community resources are being uniquely taxed.

If you’re unsure of how to support relief organizations, animal rescues, wildlife shelters, or your faith community, reach out. Contact the charity directly through their email contact. Call them to ask how to best build their resources base.

Some folks are uncomfortable using electronic funds transfers. While that is a simple and immediate means of getting monies to needy charities, it doesn’t work well for everyone. If that’s you, perhaps giving to a local charity that you can access in person is for you! Visit your local charity office and put your monetary gift right in their hands!

Gifts in Kind during the Canada Post strike

Many charities are in a position to receive Gifts in Kind. These are goods that can be repurposed and re-used. Some charities will accept household items and clothing. Animal shelters often have a wish list of items necessary for the care and comfort of the critters they’re housing. The limits of this kind of giving are as boundless as your imagination. It may just mean making a few phone calls to see who needs what, and how it can be put in their ready-to-serve hands!

And, of course, there’s always vehicle donation!

Donating a vehicle is an option in most of Canada! The process is simple and quick. The tow is always free, and you will always be served in a personable, cheerful, grateful manner.

The first step to vehicle donation? First, fill in an online donation form. This will take you less than ten minutes. Then, wait for your phone to ring! The tow crew will be calling to arrange your free tow at a time that suits you best. Lastly, watch your inbox for your charitable tax receipt. Even while regular mail is on pause, your receipt will be delivered right to your inbox within days of your charity of choice receiving your gift. Oh! And I neglected to mention: You can choose any charity in Canada to receive the net proceeds from your vehicle donation!

Kindness always finds a way, doesn’t it? However you choose to give in the weeks ahead, it’s exciting to think that it will serve the charity you most care about. There’s something satisfying and positive about that even when times are tough for so many.

The post Canada Post Strike Affects Charities Countrywide appeared first on Donate A Car.

Creative giving – limitless possibilities

When it comes to creative giving, you get to decide: What kind of giving suits you best? Are you an artist? A cook? Perhaps you have zero time, but a sturdy bank account? Money may be in short supply, but perhaps you have toys or household goods that you no longer need?

The cause you love will benefit from whatever generosity you have to share.

Our charities page offers links to over 1,000 charities in Canada. Many of these organizations have an, “Other Ways to Give” option on their own “Donate” pages. Helping your charity is about so much more than dollars and cents these days!

But don’t stop there! Visit CanadaHelps and explore over 80,000 Canadian causes at-the-ready to receive your gifts!

Vehicle donors make a difference

Each of Donate a Car Canada’s receiving charities is served personally. We craft a vehicle donation program specific to their unique work. That’s our version of “creative giving” and it includes everything from exceptional donor support to color matching!

Furthermore, we’re here to serve car, truck, van, and SUV donors by recycling or re-selling their donated vehicles. Each donor shares in their own creative giving way!

As we’ve been around for over two decades, we’re now seeing many donors return with second donations…or third…or more!

Just this autumn we’ve seen some multi-vehicle donations really add up for their chosen charities.

Some donors and charities to celebrate

We serve six Big Brothers and Big Sisters chapters. This Fall, T.B. donated a snowmobile on behalf of Big Brothers & Big Sisters, York region. Yes, you read that right! A snowmobile for charity! Thanks to agents that happily participate in creative giving, we have often processed motorized wheelchairs, scooters, and snowmobiles for dozens of causes.

But wait! There’s more: this wasn’t the first time T.B. had gifted four wheels through our program. The Canadian Cancer Society was their charity pick the first time they donated through our program. That donation? A Honda Civic. One donor, two vehicles, and two charities helped.

There are double donors…and then there are double-double donors!

Creative giving can’t always come in the shape of a car, or truck. We really get that. But for one of our November donors, clearing the yard of multiple vehicles was just the thing!

The beauty of donating a vehicle is that you tend your Self, your property, and your environment while also supporting your cause. In the case of this generous donor? K.M. gifted four (4!) vehicles. At one time!

The Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association is set to receive their fourth and final gift from the donor this month-end. To date, they’ve been sent three of four donations.

What did this multi-vehicle donor gift, and what’s in it for the CHAA? A 1998 Ford Focus earned them $450.00, as did his 2002 Ford Edge. The 1999 VW Golf and 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix offered $350.00 each. That’s $1,600.00 for the charity and one tidy driveway for K.M!

Your giving, your way

Understandably, we are not all in a position to donate a vehicle. Donating more than one vehicle may be right out of the question! If your charity’s vehicle donation program fits for you, we’re here to help!

Human kindness comes in so many shapes and sizes and smells (think cookies and hot soup!). If slinging snow from the neighbor’s sidewalk is an easy-do for you? Thank you! That act is Goodness. Write a note. Send some love on social media. Make that overdue phone call. It all matters!

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