Putting cards to good use

I read a couple of different ideas for what to do with extra cards yesterday. The first post was by the Troll who sent some of his "untradable" cards to various hospitals. The other post was from 25 Years of Baseball. His plan involved the card manufacturers offering up a rebate for junk wax and recycling millions of unnecessary, overproduced cards. It is an interesting idea, but I don't see the manufacturers getting behind any kind of rebate program due to the costs involved, not to mention the fact they have proven time and time again they are not concerned with what the true collectors want. Need evidence? Just think sticker autos. I do know what the Troll (and many others I'm sure) did is a great way to ease the burden of card storage.

I moved back home (briefly) when I left the military back in 1994. Packed safely away in the numerous boxes the Navy so kindly shipped home were well over 150,000 junk wax cards from 1988-1992. I was out of work for about 7 months and spent a portion of that time trying to sort through the chaos that was my collection. I knew those cards were never going to worth the money they originally cost, so I decided to relieve myself of the burden of storing some of them. I contacted a local children's hospital and asked if they would like some cards to pass out to the kids. The lady I spoke to couldn't say yes fast enough and said they would take all the cards I wanted to give. I spent a week or so packing 1000 team set bags with 30 cards each. I was counting to 30 in my sleep. I took them to the hospital, loaded them in a big wagon and pulled them into the office of the lady I had spoken to earlier. She was overwhelmed. She said she appreciated me putting the cards in the bags, but it really wasn't necessary. That just meant I could bring more cards with less labor the next time. I did get a nice letter from the hospital and a tax write-off (don't ask how I valued the cards, I don't remember), but knowing that some kids might forget about being in the hospital for one second was enough for me. I'm not posting this to pat myself on the back, but rather to put the idea out there for anyone who has never thought of donating cards. Troll, thanks for jogging my memory and reminding us all of a way to give a little to lift someone else's spirits.