Cancelled stamps reusable
A recent column told you how to send your CANCELED STAMPS to Stamp Camp USA to be used and recycled by young people. Sadly, the organization has shut its doors. I’ve written about this worthwhile group for years. Many wrote that the stamps were either being returned or forwarded to a new address. So, here is the Heloise update:
Stamps for Stamp Camp USA are being directed to the American Philatelic Society. APS is the largest nonprofit organization that uses stamps in educational programs across the country, such as Stamps Teach (Stamps in the Classroom), All Star Stamp Clubs, the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and more. After receiving donated stamps and envelopes with stamps still attached, they are distributed to stamp collectors, teachers, postal historians and even the general public. So, keep collecting those stamps, office supplies or even cash donations and send to: APS Youth Programs, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823. For more information on this wonderful organization and all that it does, go to www.stamps.org. — Heloise
P.S.: Hey, office folks! How about saving up a boxful from your work and sending them on?
RECEIPT HOLDER
Dear Heloise: I think it is important to keep receipts, but even more so when on vacation. It used to be hard to keep all the receipts until I figured out how to store them.
When I check into my hotel, I am given my electronic room key in a small, credit-card-size envelope. I place the room key in my wallet and keep the envelope to use for storing all my receipts. The envelope holds more receipts than you would think, and it keeps them together until I return home. — Jerry M. in New Jersey.
VEGGIES ON WHEELS
Dear Heloise: Aloha from Maui, where we have year-round vegetable gardening.
I use truck tires for my vegetable beds. They are free, and as long as there is no steel belt exposed inside or out, they are perfectly usable. They can be painted for decoration, and they roll easily into the yard. Stacked two high, they make for little bending and easy weed maintenance. I write the name of each individual crop on the tire with chalk. It can be erased if I change the plants. — Robert, via email
“Aloha” to my friends in Maui! This is definitely recycling and reusing at its best. Mahalo! — Heloise
TAGGING KEYS
Dear Heloise: Before tagging keys with a phone number (Heloise here: putting an ID tag on keys), use an Internet search engine to see if the address shows up.
You might want to use a cellphone number instead of a home phone number, because it may be less likely to be attached to an address. If traveling, you are easier to contact by cellphone, and still may be in the vicinity of the found keys. — George A., via email
Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to 1-210-HELOISE or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can’t answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.