I am often asked by our travelers for advice on what to take as donations or gifts to their destinations. It’s a hard question for me to answer as I have been in many situations where distributing things like pencils, flashlights and balls has gone awry…the wrong people end up with the goods, there is mayhem, there are fights, tears and disappointment. A mess. That is why I am so delighted, and calmed, to discover Pack for a Purpose and its remarkably sensible and clear vision for giving to others.
Pack for a Purpose has solved a couple of potential problems to this kind of giving. The first thing it asks you to do is to select your destination (presumably, destinations are being added all the time). If your destination is listed, you will find under it another list of hotel partners, each of which has its own list of requested items. The brilliance of this targeting is that your gifts align with specified local needs. The organization then tells you how to pack the goods – keep in original boxes or take out, deflate soccer balls, etc. – and then, once in country, you can deliver your donation to the hotel property who will pass on your donation to the school or clinic or project requesting them.
This should become standard practice for all of us when we travel.