orphans and donations question

[tea olive]

so i haven't any money to give but i've got practical baby clothes and blankets out the wazoo. and i've been thinking about orphans living in cardboard boxes around the world.

does any one know who would accept items for children in dire circumstances in third world countries?
i know little about the organizations. i guess i'm feeling the activist stir in me. usually i've been apathetic to protect my sensitivities. i browsed at unicef for a little but maybe i need to find a back door, just someone to send really good stuff to.

[Quirky]

I just saw a thread on this, someone here organizes donations to Ukraine orphanages of baby stuff.....now I can't remember who it is! gurumama maybe? If you run a search on the boards for Ukraine I'll bet you'll find it. Or a search for orphan/orphanage.

HTH!

[Cassandra M.]

yes gurumama is collecting stuff for a ukrainan orphanage.
they need baby blankets, crib bedding, and diapers the most. you can pm her for more details and her address. i just sent her a bunch of stuff last week. she can give you a link to thier cause too.

[EFmom]

I'm the mother of two internationally adopted children. You can also contact adoption agencies with international programs. There are probably some near you. Look in the phone book or do a search. It could save you some shipping costs.

Be warned however, that some orphanages do not accept used clothing. Please don't be offended by that. I know that many of us love to recycle clothing from friends, neighbors or thrift shops. But some orphange personnel don't feel that it is appropriate to give the children under their care used clothes. There may also be issues of the clothing that is worn in the orphanage not being the same as western clothes. In China, for example, toddlers wear pants with a split crotch, not pants like we use here.

Also, in some countries the orphanages have to pay duty on the clothing parcels, which might be quite steep. Sometimes the duty is far more than the package is worth to them. If you find an agency that has personnel that can hand-carry the donations, that might be better.