Spring Cleaning! Stage One

I'm not what you call a "neat freak"! But I like the whole idea of spring cleaning! Out with the old, in with the new! There's a feeling of starting fresh that appeals to me. I will not put the winter clothes away until the May long weekend though, as far as I am concerned, anyone who does, is just asking for a snowstorm!!
There seems to be several stages to a thorough cleaning. My Mom used to call it DEEEEEP clean! Today we are going to tackle Stage One!

STAGE ONE: organizing
Step one: Pick a room. Don't move on to another room until that first room is completely finished. I know it is tempting but history shows that if you move too quickly, it can get really ugly, really fast!

Step two: You've got to sort. There is usually a "keeper" pile, a "going into storage" pile, a "grown out of" pile, and then a "garbage" pile. The "grown out of" pile will later be subdivided into a "hand me down" pile and "give to charity" pile. Be ruthless! This can apply to clothes, books, games, toiletries, you name it!

Step three: When you are storing seasonal stuff try and pack the things that you are going to use first, last. That's a hard one to conceptualize.

Step four: This is where all my hard work surfing the net is going to pay off! Find a place to donate your new found treasures.

Children's books 
childrensbookbank.com
This is a charitable organization designed to support children's literacy by providing free books to children in lower income neighbourhoods.
350 Berkeley St.
T.O.
416-922-7323
info@childrensbookbank.com
Tuesday-Thursday 10am-6pm
Saturday 10am-2pm (it's closed on Saturdays in July and August)

Art Supplies
sketch.ca  They create opportunities for street involved and homeless people ages 15-29, to engage in the arts in a cross-discipline studio environment or in the community. They are at King and Spadina but you can email them at info@sketch.ca to see what they need.

Musical Instruments
REGENT PARK school of music It's a great site that gives you all the details on how to donate an instrument to the school.

Bicycles
communitybicyclenetwork.org/donate They suggest a $10. donation to cover admin costs and you need to fill out a form on their website. They are located at Queen W. and Euclid. 


Eye Glasses
Hakim Optical will accept eyeglasses at over 100 locations in Canada.


This was one of those exercises where I felt really good about what I was doing and, as usual, overwhelmed by the generosity that surrounds us in our fair city. Here are a bunch of great links that will help you get your stuff where you want it to go!


Charityvillage.com Click on Volunteer & Donate, there is a section for Stuff,  there is an amazing array of organizations listed.


Goodwill.ca Click on Donate and the answers to all your questions are at your finger tips


Toronto.ca Another fantastic resource if you are looking to pass on some of your gently used items

 
Once you get everything out of the way, now it's really time to start cleaning!

I think you should now take a break, and enjoy a cool beverage outside on this beautiful day! You deserve it!