Momma Told Me: Never Turn Away An Open Hand With Blessing Bags- Day Of Giving, November 28th

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Never Turn Away An Open Hand With Blessing Bags- Day Of Giving, November 28th

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #99YourThanksgiving #DoingThe99 #CollectiveBias
Give back more with thoughtfully filled Blessing Bag kits you can stock on a budget at local 99 Cents Only Stores. Fill tehm with essentials such as fleee blankets, warm knit hats, shelf stable food, and bandages and keep them in the car for those in need. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD
November is a month marked by thanks.

There's an entire holiday centered around the concept of being thankful for that which one has and has been given. However, as the end of the month also marks an entire week dedicated to spending with the intent of giving in the following month, December, the very spirit of giving can actually get quite lost. The slurry of door buster sales and elaborate wish lists can easily make a season of giving feel more like a chore.

It's this season which reminds me most of my mother's mother; a woman who would quite literally give you the necklace off her neck if you complimented her on it. A woman who opened her home to not only her employees and their families when in need, but even strangers on cold holiday nights. She taught me that the clearest way to show appreciation for what one has been given is through sharing it.

As we look forward to the annual Day of Giving on November 28th, the day following Cyber Monday, I find myself heading to my local 99 Cents Only Stores in hopes of stretching that giving spirit jut a little further through incredible savings on a variety of everyday essentials.
99 Cents Only Stores help you stretch your giving buck this Day of Giving. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD
A few years back my, then 9 year-old, niece and I were driving around our home town and we passed a man in a frumpy coat with an equally frumpy Labrador retriever and a cardboard sign beside him on a street corner. As I so often did when I had cash on hand I reached into my purse and pulled out a crumpled bill, rolled down the window, and called the gentleman over to hand it to him. An hour later, on a different errand we passed a second out-stretched hand and this time I had only 2 dollars in my pocketbook to spare. As we pulled away my very astute niece had a contemplative look on her face.

"I wish we could do more the just give them (those in need) a few dollars. Sure, they can buy a burger or a drink, but what happens when they are cold or hungry tomorrow?" she explained.
99 Cents Only Stores help you stretch your giving buck this Day of Giving. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD99 Cents Only Stores help you stretch your giving buck this Day of Giving. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD
I thought on this for a few minutes before turning the car around and heading back into the shopping plaza. Sabrina was perplexed, and asked if we'd forgotten something on our shopping list. I shook my head no and explained, as we walked through the automatic doors of our local 99, that we were going to do more than give what we had on hand. We were going to give with intent.

We would assemble several kits of daily essentials and food the average individual often takes for granted. We'd stretch our humble budget into a mountain of aid for those who couldn't help themselves, and hopefully touch the lives of those we gave to beyond a single day and a few dollars.
While we called them 'Giving Kits' at the time, it turns out this particular type of organized aid is more commonly known as a blessing bag. You can find all of the necessities to build these kits at your local 99 Cents Only Stores, often at such great prices you can build many for a very small budget of $20-30. The 6 pack of bottled water above will help build 3 blessing bags, while essentials such as antiseptic pads, bandages, and pain relievers can be purchased in individual sealed multi-packs ready to be split up.
Building Blessing Bags has become a sort of tradition in our family. Our car just isn't considered clean and restocked without them, and what we've been able to give back through them has only grown through the years as our local 99 has expanded it's merchandise offerings. This year there is a rather large portion of an aisle dedicated to warm and Winter wear, as well as affordable fleece blanket rolls. For just a few dollars we can add a warm beanie, knit gloves and a blanket to our blessing bags- a gift that continues to give long after our car has pulled away.
Give back more with thoughtfully filled Blessing Bag kits you can stock on a budget at local 99 Cents Only Stores. Fill tehm with essentials such as fleee blankets, warm knit hats, shelf stable food, and bandages and keep them in the car for those in need. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD
While we primarily make these bags with the intent of keeping them in our car to be handed out to needy strangers we might pass on the street you could also make similar kits to donate to a local Woman's shelter, or church pantry. The contents you decide to fill them with will likely be tailored to your local climate needs, and the recipients you expect to share them with.

Consider convenience when choosing items such as food- Food items should have long shelf lives, be easy to open and store, and be shelf stable. Pre-portioned snacks and meals such as protein (tuna/salmon) packs and granola bars help provide sustenance that can easily be enjoyed over time. Make sure any canned foods have easy tab-pop tops, and consider including a few plastic utensils, et naps, and tissues/napkins which may serve multiple uses .
Give back more with thoughtfully filled Blessing Bag kits you can stock on a budget at local 99 Cents Only Stores. Fill tehm with essentials such as fleee blankets, warm knit hats, shelf stable food, and bandages and keep them in the car for those in need. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD
Our local 99 Cents Only Store has a wide variety of items, and the inventory is always changing- we try top pick up essentials for our blessing bags whenever we spot a great deal, especially on multi-pack style items. You never know what you will find when you shop the 99 and amazing finds tend to go fast- so it's important to shop often and snap up those extra-cool finds when you spot them. Of course great prices on the everyday essentials and favorite name brands are always in stock. Our local 99 even has a full produce department and cold food case- so I try to include a $5 99 Cents Only Store gift card in our blessing bags when I can. I can't keep fresh oranges and milk in my car waiting to be handed out- but I can give our bags' recipients a chance to shop for some of those types of things at an affordable place like the 99.
Give back more with thoughtfully filled Blessing Bag kits you can stock on a budget at local 99 Cents Only Stores. Fill tehm with essentials such as fleee blankets, warm knit hats, shelf stable food, and bandages and keep them in the car for those in need. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD
Once you've made blessing bags for the first time you'll likely have some of the staples in excess to get you started the next time. It's a form of giving that is easy to facilitate a little at a time if you are smart and shop the 99 throughout the year. One of the things you'll need to get you started is some form of bag to put all of your items in- we buy 2 Gallon zipper bags at our 99 that hold quite a bit of stuff, and are fairly weather resistant.
Give back more with thoughtfully filled Blessing Bag kits you can stock on a budget at local 99 Cents Only Stores. Fill tehm with essentials such as fleee blankets, warm knit hats, shelf stable food, and bandages and keep them in the car for those in need. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD
Building a great Blessing Bag is a little bit like playing Tetris- if you're including a fleece blanket roll figure out where that is going in your bag first. You'll either want it to go in first, or last as it will dictate how much space you have to play around with in your bag for extras. I like to then pack any liquids, such as bottled water or V-8 juice cans in the bottom. This helps put the bulk of the weight on the bottom and also give the bag, itself, some structure. Next you'll want to thoughtfully layer food and essentials as they fit. If your bags have special themes, such as feminine hygiene products for a woman, or pet food for someone who may have a pet, be sure to face those items outward so you can quickly identify those bags.
Give back more with thoughtfully filled Blessing Bag kits you can stock on a budget at local 99 Cents Only Stores. Fill tehm with essentials such as fleee blankets, warm knit hats, shelf stable food, and bandages and keep them in the car for those in need. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD
Blessing Bags can come in all sizes- You don't have to fill a 2-gallon bag (which on average costs us about $10 to fill at our local 99), a bag with a fleece blanket, some water, and granola bars is certain to be just as appreciated. This is something we prefer to do year-round, so we build our bags based on our budget and what we can afford. This means we usually buy a few things here and there for our Blessing Bags with each 99 shopping trip- though the everyday value of shopping the 99 means you can start with nothing and have several bags built for under $10 if you shop right.
Give back more with thoughtfully filled Blessing Bag kits you can stock on a budget at local 99 Cents Only Stores. Fill tehm with essentials such as fleee blankets, warm knit hats, shelf stable food, and bandages and keep them in the car for those in need. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD
Give back more with thoughtfully filled Blessing Bag kits you can stock on a budget at local 99 Cents Only Stores. Fill tehm with essentials such as fleee blankets, warm knit hats, shelf stable food, and bandages and keep them in the car for those in need. #DoingThe99 #99YourThanksgiving #AD
November 28th is the National Day Of Giving, the day after Cyber Monday (as everyone knows it)- and it's the perfect day to start a new tradition in your family. Why not shop 99 Cents Only Stores and make a few Blessing Bags you can hand out to those in need throughout the season? Children love getting in the giving spirit, and building a thoughtful bag helps foster a sense of appreciation for everyday essentials. You may even choose to add a special touch such as a handwritten note, or hand crocheted hat- and you'll find supplies for both at the 99!

If it weren't for 99 Cents Only Stores I, personally, wouldn't be able to afford to give so much, or so generously through these Blessing Bags. The fact that I can shop for such a wide variety of essentials, from quality name brand products really helps stretch my ability to give not only this season, but year-round. If you're looking for a little more inspiration on how to give back this season check out the 99 Social Hub and discover how others are Doing The 99. You can see what my local 99 is up to, and has hitting shelves by following them on Facebook, or discover more great 99 finds and ideas on the brand's YouTube channel and Instagram page.

Now, tell me, how are you planning on giving back this Day of Giving (November 28th)?



28 comments:

  1. I love this so much! I think it's incredibly important to give back and help those in need.

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  2. I always love to see ideas for helping those in need. This time of year, it's more important than ever to remember that there are people out there who are far less fortunate than we are.

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  3. This is the kind of thing I love to do periodically throughout the year. I think it's especially important around the holiday. It can be extremely disheartening for those in need to look around at all the Christmas everything and know that they are struggling to even live.

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  4. This is such a great idea! I am always interested in trying to help those in need. Most of the time I don't have cash on me and even if I did I rather give them something that they can use every day. A lot of times I will go to the store and buy food and give it to people on the side of the road. We are all in this world together and we should try supporting each other.

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  5. I love your list, and love this idea. I think I will be making some of these with my grandkids to keep in the car and pass out.

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  6. What a lovely gesture for this time of the year! I think this would be great for my scout troop to make as our next project!

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  7. First of all can I just say that your creativity is so inspiring and that I love your posts?! Also I didn't know what I was going to do with my kids and thanks to you I am going to follow your lead And create some blessing bags! Thank you for the inspiration

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  8. This is a fantastic idea. I will have to gather the supplies I need to make some blessing bags to hand out in my area.

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  9. This is such a good idea and I like that it's easy to find everything at the 99c store. This is definitely something we could do.

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  10. What an awesome store! I wish we had one around us! They would make Blessing Bags so much cheaper!

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  11. I think this is a great idea. I wish I had this store near me. We do have a dollar store around though, so everything is a dollar or less. Nice to have these kinds of stores around.

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  12. I love this idea for creating blessing bags. It's also wonderful that you can get so many good things for a low price at the 99 cent store.

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  13. Funny, I just went to the 99 cent store today! I didn't realize how much stuff they had there. I even picked up a few presents. - Sarah, Must Have Mom

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  14. This is a great idea! I didn't realize they had so much at the 99 either!

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  15. Once again, you hit it out of the park!! I love your ideas and I love that you brought this idea to your readers!! Way to use your talents!!

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  16. I love these ideas so much! I am so glad that you shared this.

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  17. This is such an amazing idea! I love this so much. I am going to share this with my friends.

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  18. What a great idea to keep blessing bags in your car throughout the year! The holidays are a time of fun and joy, but it's always important to remember those less fortunate than us. Thanks so much for sharing! #client

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  19. Beautiful idea! I'm going to the dollar store today to get supplies. They won't quite look like yours thanks to our Texas climate but will be just as full.

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