We got to Play a Craigslist Santa of sorts

Before Christmas we had the chance to play "Santa" in a way, by giving people free toys- through posting them on Craigslist. Here's how it came about.>>>

  Tom's folks are moving south and we have spent the week helping them prepare and clean up the house. His mom loved to collect stuffed toys from anywhere. In fact, there were so many plush toys they filled a large garbage bag. 

There were bears, and Sesame Street characters, dogs, and even a stuffed Pillsbury Dough boy! I checked around for Toys for Tots drives, including the toy drive at the U.S. Naval Academy, but they had all wrapped up before December 19. So, we were going to donate them to Goodwill, but I had another thought. 

Since Goodwill will just price them and sell them, and people who are jobless during this pandemic can't afford anything, I decided to post them individually on Craigslist and have people pick them up on our front porch. 

First, I will tell you that I took photos of each stuffed animal and then emailed them from my phone to the computer. Then I downloaded them to the computer. I had to come up with a description for each, as well as how people could contact me (I never put our address or phone on Craigslist- just email responses only). 

Posting each of them took hours on my Sunday (the 19th), and then came the flurry of emails requesting different animals. I respond to all of them, so I tell people if they are the 2nd, 3rd, etc. person requesting. Then later, if the toy is taken, I email them back to let them know. (It's a lot of record-keeping from Santa's Elf Office here). 

I bagged each toy with the taker's name on it, and put it on our front porch. 

In one case, a woman who manages shelters for battered women contacted me for a bear, because some women come with kids, and they have nothing but the clothes they're wearing. I gave her a big bag full of toys, and Tom's mom also provided a bunch of toiletries and blankets, too. 

Once a toy or toys were taken, I removed them from Craigslist and notified everyone. It's a lot of tracking and coordination, but Santa does that! Of course, he has elves. I have 2 dogs cheering me on. 

Happy Holidays!