Want an idea for all those Christmas cards you received?

I typically keep the card fronts so I can reuse them for gift tags in upcoming years. However. As a result, I have piles of old Christmas cards. As I approached the stack from this year, I knew that I could not keep them as well. So I did a search on the internet and found a great solution to my Christmas card dilemma:

St. Jude's Children's Ranch

They are accepting used, all-occasion (including Christmas) cards until February 28, 2010. Donations can be mailed to St. Jude's Ranch for Children, Recycled Card Program, 100 St. Jude's Street, Boulder City, NV, 89005.


St. Jude's Ranch for Children takes in abused, abandoned, and neglected children. The kids help volunteers make new cards by attaching a new back to the card, which they then sell to fund their work.

I was so inspired by this idea that I went and dug out all our old Christmas cards (that were in my Christmas boxes) to find more to send off! This is another example of something I've always kept (my mom taught me the trick) but I'm letting go of.

I e-mailed St. Jude's Ranch to verify they also want Christmas cards (the site says all-occasion cards), and they responded to say that they want card fronts with no writing on the back...so I guess I will weed through them and keep a few for gift tags and recycle the rest.