Just got agreement for 250 waterbottles from a local realtor. I saw some one carrying one and called her. She agreed to give 250 if I didn't call any other realtors. With that many,I don't NEED to call any others.

Local blood drive will give t-shirts.

A local doll collector will give some mini dolls.

We haven't paid for anything and haven't even had to pick up yet.

[ 02-19-2004, 04:04 PM: Message edited by: nonsequitur ]

Just found this one:

National Eye Institute
"See All You Can See: Activity Book" for Ages 6 to 8 & "Wild about Healthy Vision: Activity Book" for Ages 9-12

www.nei.nih.gov/order/pub_sorted_by_title.asp

Also, do a google search free publications + your state and see what comes up if you're looking for posters, maps and coloring books. You'll get museums, national and stat parks, ect.

NICHD Information resource center -
1-800-370-2943 They have milk matters booklets. The ones I liked were "Milk Matters with Buddy Brush" and "Milk matters for Your Child's Health"


To request a consumer information catalog for 200+ free or cheep publications:
write Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, Colorado 81009 or look online www.pueblo.gsa.gov
I believe you can order multiples if you write.

Maps can be ordered from your state visitor centers and state elected officials.
State officials usually have posters or pocket size constitutions as well.

Another good site for publications, posters and activity books is:(drug free)
store.health.org

I know this is heavy on publications, but that's what I'm currently working on.

[ 02-18-2004, 07:21 PM: Message edited by: nonsequitur ]

Wow! Thank you! We're in the process of getting ready to fundraise for a new playground, and after reading the article on the NPN website about grab-bags, we decided to do that as one of our fundraisers. I've been trying to think of things I'd like to get if I were to buy a grab-bag, and was worried about getting donations for the bags; I checked a lot of websites, and so many companies don't donate to "mom & pop" programs anymore. Other ideas I received were for local maps from realtors, and coupons for free food from local merchants (free slice pizza, Wendy's Frosty, Free sub with purchase of a can of soda). And though we're hoping to get mostly donations for the bags, I've been picking up stuff from clearance sales; one of my better buys was 20 cute Santa mugs with straws/lids from Michaels Craft Stores--I think I ended up paying $0.23 each.

If I think of anything else, I'll post! Thanks again!

Someone emailed me for more sources. So I'll put them here for anyone else who might be curious. I went to several sites for free stuff and found that the numbers were old, companies didn't have the products, ect. So here are the things I did find:

Franklin Electronics has a cool homophone poster. It's a poem about how hard English spelling and pronunciation is -
1-800-266-5626

The local children's hospital pr and education department provided 40 activity/coloring books.

I know the post office has three different activity books. They are not just about stamps. One is about space. If you go up to the counter (esp. at a slow time), you should be able to get several copies. Explain that it's for a school and they're usually happy to help

Same goes for Fire and Police Departments.

Helena Labs has colorful health posters of cholesteral and a heart. I got 10 just because some people will like it and some won't.

The EPA activity books are good, but the posters are hit and miss. Some are just promos with no picture. Saves our species is good.

Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board gave me 1500 cookbooks and cooking pamphlets. Ask for the Prize winning recipes booklet. I think it's the most general of their cookbooks and fits better in a grab bag. They also have a nice Holiday cookbook if you're doing anything around Christmas. 1-800-373-9662

I don't know if anyone else feels comfortable doing this, but the Starfall books are cool. I figure they're colorful and educational, so that's valuable. Each book would go for at least $3 at an educational store. Check with your k-2 teachers to make sure they aren't using them in class. Otherwise I would put one in each grab bag. They have workbooks to help reading, spelling and handwriting. They also send pencils. I have extra animal erasers and put those together.
It may not be free everywhere, but check starfall.com

I ordered a lot more. I'll list things as they come in. At the moment, I have over a thousand items in hand. (I'm counting all the cooking stuff as 1 item per set.) I'm halfway to my goal and lots more is coming. I get at least 2 packages a day now.

FYI I have worked in call centers before, so here's some advice in dealing with people over the phone:

DON'T call on Mondays. That's the busiest time. Other times will be easier to get a manager if you need special permission for a large quantity.

Being nice and asking questions gets you more help than being rushed or rude.

Every operator is different. You may reach one that I didn't who either doesn't know about the items I ordered or knows about other items I didn't hear about.

Sometimes it's hard to explain what I'm doing to the operator. If he/she doesn't get it the first time I explain, I just say it's for my school.


Good luck and please share anything new you get.

[ 02-18-2004, 11:14 AM: Message edited by: nonsequitur ]

I'm getting into the grab bag idea for our silent auction. I was going to experiment with 50 bags, but I'm getting such a great response that we've bumped it up to as many as 250 bags.
Depending on what's finally donated, we'll charge $3-5 for each.

It looks like each bag will have at least ten items - a poster, pencil or pen, 2 coloring/activity books, a small toy, cookbooks from Wisconsin Cheese, educational pamphlet (ie Help Your Child Read), mug or other pormotional items, free certificates to fitness clubs, karate lessons, donuts and I'm trying to find t-shirts and/or baseball caps.

I can give a list of my sources if anyone is interested. It has been fun to do. I was sick, so this was something I did online and over the phone. I didn't ask for 250 of anything. I asked for 5 to 20 of each item and if the operator seemed willing, then I asked for more. I also asked if there were other items available. They were very nice and helpful.

Here are a few sources:

EPA posters and activity books - Search "poster" and "activity book"
yosemite.epa.gov/ncepihom/nsCatalog.nsf/...m&CartID=7055-111043

National Center for Exploited and missing children - 8 rules of safety posters- first 50 free plus they have a catalog of other publications - 1-800-843-5678

CDC - smoke free posters w/ Boys II Men and Christy Turlington - 1-770-488-5705 (allow 4 weeks)

Alcohol and Drug free clearing house - call for catalog - 1-800-729-6686

I also contacted local businesses for donations if I thought they wouldn't be able to donate otherwise -

Insurance companies and real estate agents often have extra promos:
State Farm - mugs and waterbottles
Real estate agent - notebooks, nice pens

I will be contacting the local fast food chains for toys from kids meals. Some are quite elaborate.

I also offered to let the direct sales donors (Mary Kay, Pampered Chef) put in a promotional gift with their card attched. I haven't gotten conclusive answers back on that yet.

I will find some attractive bags (Marie Calendars?) to put the items in and then staple a list of the grab bag donors to each one. Even though not every bag will have something from each vendor, the vendors get some advertising and people will know what might be inside. Anything too big to fit in a bag (ie rolled posters) will have a number assigned to it and a bag will have a slip with that number to redeem it.

I started this 2 weeks ago and now have too many boxes in my living room. And I still have tons coming.

Also if you have any ideas, I will gladly try them out.