General Forum

Commons4Kids.org is an option. You won’t get any money for them and actually have to pay to ship them but at least they’re going to a good cause. I have a large flat rate box full and ready to ship right now actually. 

As a teacher, I can recommend contacting local schools if you are looking to donate. Most kids don't care about the era but they got a bunch of FILL IN TEAM HERE cards of theif favourite team. When I bring in a bunch to where I teach kids love it.

Now this is good.  I have gotten some wonderful ideas spanning the spectrum from destroying, selling, various vehicles for donating, and holding on indefinitely for trade fodder.

So is it a quasi-consensus that American school children (boys?) Will embrace virtually any baseball cards that come in? I thought I, in my 30's was at the tail end of a generation of collectors... but it makes tons of sense.  Kids love all kinds plastic toys or free books they have received as gifts.  I remember, it wasn't that long ago.  I  just wish my teachers handed me 30 year old baseball cards back in 1995, ha!

For me, I think I am going to, in the near term, put the "flood zone" cards on my for sale or trade list and ask in return for things I like.  If that doesn't work in time to my satisfaction, I will more than likely gift them one way or another.

Good stuff. I'm absolutely elated that this thread (my first ever, did I mention?) has gotten the traffic it has. Thank you all!

jpjanes

This thread has actually provided me with some good ideas as well.  I have a few friends that work at local elementary schools and I think I'll ask them if it would be ok or a good idea to maybe package some up for give away Christmas presents.  They can put packages of them in a basket and the kids can take a pack if they want, like a bowl of Halloween candy.  My local card shop also has a donation bin that they give to a man who runs a program that gives them away as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children at shelters, hospitals, etc. 

As a recently retired school administrator, I began this school year with an itch to be around chlidren and teachers. One of my colleagues left administration to teach again and I decided to send her my '89 Fleer Team Stickers to give as rewards for whatever she deemed worthy. I also sent some of the Upper Deck stickers and will continue as long as I keep getting them. They always come in the lots I purchase so there's part of the overabundance that keeps being mentioned. 

When I was in the classroom I used baseball cards for lessons and as rewards. We also made baseball cards. If you think about it there are various subjects that can be covered in creating a card and even with just using two cards strategically given with lessons to compare and contrast from using statistics to writing descriptions to the artistry of design. A whole lot of thinking goes on and that's what I trained my teachers to do in general when teaching kids.

So, jpjanes, eliminate the idea of destroying the cards for there is a great use for them in the right hands. Maybe it's time to end that discussion of calling these "junk" (my original soapbox from a post long ago) and see them as a possibility to help in our society instead of being upset that we spent money on cards that won't pay our kids' college tuition after all.

As an aside, I still have '90 Donruss and some inserts/related sets on my Want List.

I am in to these also