Skip to main content

Feel Good Friday – Pack for a Purpose

Anyone who has traveled to a third world country has packed a pile of pencils, pens or slap bracelets to give out to the kids they meet. While those little trinkets are exciting for the youngsters, we are missing out on the bigger picture of what we can really do for these kids.

Enter former school teacher Rebecca Rotheny, founder of Pack for a Purpose. 14 years ago she went to Africa with her husband and while she could only take 40 pounds of luggage on safari, she realized the airline allowed her 100 pounds of checked luggage plus 40 pounds carry-on. This was her ‘aha’ moment. On her second trip she looked into visiting a school and contacted Wilderness Safaris to see if they could help determine what these kids may need. They ended up delivering 140 pounds of school supplies to the school. As Rotheny told us, “I know how hard it is to get school supplies here in Raleigh; I can’t imagine how hard it is to find them in Botswana!” They also delivered deflated soccer balls. “I saw these kids playing soccer with a ball of rags in a plastic bag,” she remembers.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Pack for a Purpose launched in 2009 with 29 places and now has over 400. They have had families, wedding parties and even MIT business school take part in the journey. “Anybody can pack for a purpose,” Rebecca reminds us. And to be sure your donations are landing in good hands, the organization tracks everything to make sure it is getting used but also to understand the metrics.

Recommended Videos

To help is fairly simple – click on their Destinations tab and find the area of the world you are heading to. Then click on it and see if there is a nearby hotel/resort where  you can drop off your donations. Then check out the list of needs, stock up, pack up and drop off – Easy – And this isn’t just for jet setters to Africa and Asia. There are contacts in Mexico, The Caribbean and Central America too.

Check out this video to see one family’s journey with their five pounds of supplies.

Topics
Cator Sparks
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Cator Sparks was the Editor-in-Chief of The Manual from its launch in 2012 until 2018. Previously, Cator was covering…
8 gripping shows like The Recruit you should watch next
These shows don't have Noah Centineo, but they're still thrilling
Netflix on a laptop

If there's one type of show Netflix has thoroughly mastered, it's anything adjacent to the spy/CIA/thriller/undercover genre. There are so many adventure series in this vein that they all start to blend into each other. Right as people were just wrapping up binging The Night Agent, Netflix had The Recruit ready to go. Noah Centineo stars as an inexperienced CIA lawyer who thinks he's got his career under control until someone with dirt on him starts to extort the CIA.

There's nothing inherently unique about The Recruit, but that doesn't mean it's not one of the most enjoyable watches on the streaming service this month. This thriller is like a good bag of potato chips. It's TV junk food that tastes great and helps with the afternoon munchies. If you're looking for a similarly constructed and themed series, these are the shows like The Recruit to watch next.

Read more
This patio heater is $194 off — don’t let the cold keep you inside
The EDX 48,000 BTU Propane Patio Heater set up outdoors.

Even if you've set up your outdoor space with the best patio furniture, you won't be able to enjoy it if it's too cold. That's why you're going to need something like the EDX 48,000 BTU Propane Patio Heater, which is on sale from Walmart with a huge $194 discount on its sticker price of $300. You'll only have to pay $106, which is a very affordable price for this essential device. You need to hurry though, as we're not sure how much time is remaining on this offer.

Why you should buy the EDX 48,000 BTU Propane Patio Heater
If you've always wanted to transform your patio into an urban oasis or a winter wonderland, one of the most important considerations is how to make outdoor temperatures more manageable. You can do that with the EDX 48,000 BTU Propane Patio Heater, which features a double-layer heating grid made of stainless steel that provides additional durability over single-layer burners. Once you turn it on, the 48,000 BTUs of heating power kicks in, heating its surrounding space with an 18-foot diameter in as fast as one minute. You'll also be able to easily move the EDX 48,000 BTU Propane Patio Heater with its bottom wheels, which will be helpful if there are multiple areas that need to be heated in your outdoor space.

Read more
Scarlett Johansson has wanted to be in a ‘Jurassic Park’ movie for years
Jurassic World Rebirth appears to be a dream come true for the Avengers actress
Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey in Jurassic World Rebirth

Scarlett Johansson is one of the stars of Jurassic World Rebirth, and to hear her tell it, she's been waiting for this moment for years. In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Johansson spent years sending rumors of new Jurassic Park movies to her agents because she was simply that desperate to join the franchise.

“I was really crazy about the [original] film, and I slept in a Jurassic Park pup tent in my bedroom I shared with my sister for a year,” Johansson said about her enduring love for the franchise. “Anytime the trades would report a new ‘Jurassic’ movie, I would forward to my agents like, ‘Hey, I’m available.’”

Read more