911 NERVOUSNESS Why people 50 through 59 don’t
call: About 67% aren’t sure it’s an emergency, 40% can’t
pay a hospital bill, and 10% don’t want to disturb staff.
Nonprofits weigh a donated item’s
potential for generating income versus the cost of accepting it, says Major Man-Hee Chang, who oversees
The Salvation Army’s western region.
Charities try to be donor-friendly,
but if they can’t sell items, they often
won’t take them, adds Drew Meyer, a
senior director with Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores. And policies vary.
While The Salvation Army tends to
take everything, stores operated by
Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity can decide what to take based on
factors like safety standards or area
buying habits. That means a Denver
Habitat ReStore may accept only
flat-screens, and an Omaha store may
not want TVs at all. (That’s why you
should call before schlepping your
stuff across town.)
So what should you do if your items
aren’t accepted? “If larger nonprofits
turn you down, try local churches or
refugee-assistance centers,” advises
Gary C. Smith, president of NAEIR,
an organization that collects and
redistributes excess inventory from
corporations. That was Donovan’s
solution. She convinced her local
rescue mission to pick up some items
and paid for the rest to be hauled to
a dump. The takeaway: Don’t give
up on giving back. “The smaller the
organization,” says Smith, “the hungrier it may be to get your stuff.” ;
Ah, Youth! Sometimes
We Don’t Miss It!
Liquor Brings
‘Likes’
Trends
Baby Steps
Why new grandparents may need
a newborn refresher course
69, learned her daughter
was pregnant, she was
thrilled—but rusty on how
to handle naptime. So she
took a two-hour class for
grandparents-to-be at a
When Diane Mercomes,
ting babies to sleep on their
backs, along with how to let
new parents resolve dilem-
m as on their own, says
Felice Stonestrom, a pro-
gram coordinator at Lucile
Packard Children’s Hospital
at Stanford.
Springfield, Massachusetts,
hospital. “I wanted informa-
tion that would help me be a
good grandparent,” she says.
“There have been so many
changes in how we’re sup-
posed to care for newborns.”
Many students are sent
by their kids: “Classes get
parents and older adults
on the same page about
the latest recomm enda-
tions,” Stonestrom explains.
Mercomes agrees, saying
her class made her feel like a
more competent grandma:
That’s why hospitals
and family centers around
the country are offering
similar classes (with high
demand). Lessons cover
topics like the importance
of breast-feeding and put-
“I give my daughter sup-
port, but I also give her
room to grow.”
—Christina Ianzito
ILLUS TRATION B Y ZARA PICKENS. “911” SOURCE: GREATCALL/ TNS GLOBAL
And these youngsters
are getting plenty of
photo ops: When underage kids imbibe, they often do so in groups—and
average about five
drinks per sitting, the
Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services
Administration finds.
We won’t toast to that.
—Leslie Quander Wooldridge
On Facebook, beer
equals buddies. Undergraduate guys (average
age: 20) who frequently
mention booze or post
photos of alcohol have
more Facebook friends
than those who don’t,
according to a recent
study published in the
American Journal of
Men’s Health.
