ok so now I have the barrel what to fill it with to make it worthwhile.....?

amstellite

Bronze
Sep 5, 2007
565
12
0
A friend gave me a blue 55 gall shipping barrel for free. I have a few boxes of mitts and about 15 to 20 bats, some helmets and other baseball stuff. But that doesn't come close to filling the thing. A bunch of friends have started giving me 20 pound bags of rice and toothpaste, soap and stuff they have found cheap while shopping. I have a bunch of sneakers and mens' shoes I can throw in and baby clothes...but still feels light.. to ship it is $115 ....which is all I will pay... but want to make it worthwhile if I am going to do it..and not ship crap people dont need. I have a used 19inch toshiba flatscreen 2 years old, and a few old radios and CD player/DVD players I no longer need..I was thinking about sticking those in the barrel.. any other ideas on how to get this thing filled with stuff that is expensive in the DR????
 

RV429

Bronze
Apr 3, 2011
1,574
1
36
A friend gave me a blue 55 gall shipping barrel for free. I have a few boxes of mitts and about 15 to 20 bats, some helmets and other baseball stuff. But that doesn't come close to filling the thing. A bunch of friends have started giving me 20 pound bags of rice and toothpaste, soap and stuff they have found cheap while shopping. I have a bunch of sneakers and mens' shoes I can throw in and baby clothes...but still feels light.. to ship it is $115 ....which is all I will pay... but want to make it worthwhile if I am going to do it..and not ship crap people dont need. I have a used 19inch toshiba flatscreen 2 years old, and a few old radios and CD player/DVD players I no longer need..I was thinking about sticking those in the barrel.. any other ideas on how to get this thing filled with stuff that is expensive in the DR????

I wouldn't send rice, it's cheaper there than here. Useful things are kids shoes and clothes, books in Spanish or math books. Ask your friends with children for clothes, toys, etc. Bringing things for the kids is the most useful. The men can work so I never worry about them, children often lack the basics most in the poorer homes. Kitchen utensils and stuff for the girls hair, frisbees or games for the boys. That's my two cents.
 
May 29, 2006
10,265
200
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Agreed on kids clothes and esp shoes and socks. Basic school supplies like composition books and chalk. A box of carpenter pencils might be nice since they would be far more durable than office pencils. You can also get boxes of golf pencils at Staples. A while back I bought something like 50 wooden rulers at an OddLots for 10 cents each. Pencil sharpeners. Flashy pencils are esp wanted by the kids in my experience.

Flash cards, esp for math. You might be able to find picture cards which are very useful for English classes.
Dollar store hair accessories for kids.
Food storage containers/plastic cups/pasta pots.
Four Square Balls.
Duct Tape??? For some reason I remember this as being very expensive.
Basketball hoops and netting.
Baseball Base markers
Small Orange cones for field games

Toilet seats?? Higher quality toilet paper? That would fill it up..

Tools. Most tools in the DR are Chinese-made and terrible. Hammers are esp bad. Used would be fine. Tool belts.

Snack Pack pudding. They are four times the price in the DR and the kids go crazy for them. At about dollar each in the DR, a lot of kids have never had pudding.

Women's sanitary products.
 

Givadogahome

Silver
Sep 27, 2011
4,397
2
0
Decent can openers are hard to get at a reasonable price.
Anything early learning is terribly expensive adults love these as much as the kids.
Paint by numbers (but you have to explain the concept to them), occasionally you can pick them up on sale with the paints, but are still 3 (or more) times the price you'll pick them up for in the US.
Anything clothes wise relating to motorcycles.
Post pregnancy cream.
Tea tree oil.
Vicks vapour rub or similar.
Ear piercing machine (ebay 5 bucks with 100 studs), a woman can make a few hundred pesos each day for herself if you arm her with one of these.
Oil burners.
Calpol.
Vitamins (pills)
Thermometers.
Spare shoe insoles.
Tens machine (cheap on ebay).
2 dollar umbrellas.
Frontline for the local dogs.
Worming pills.
Dollar reading glasses.
Lady shaves.
 

Givadogahome

Silver
Sep 27, 2011
4,397
2
0
What's a "Tens Machine"???
CC

Transcutameous electrical nerve stimulation, particularly good for mothers to be when they have back pain. Or after an operation to help stimulate those nerves back into action. Very cheap, very affective and well worth having one or two lying around among the family homes.
 

amstellite

Bronze
Sep 5, 2007
565
12
0
some great ideas her mate... hey you need me to bring you anythign from the US when I come down there..???
 

LaTeacher

Bronze
May 2, 2008
852
66
48
nebulizers. i was surprised when i asked if anyone had an extra and ended up with 6! when the kids get asthma attacks, etc... the parents have to haul them to the hospital to get treatment - but when there is a nebulizer close by they can buy the medicine and take care of the problem at home. we have some in our center that people borrow when they need them and it's been an amazing blessing to quite a few families.
 

Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
21,843
191
0
38
yahoomail.com
We are all forgetting some very important :Things" to bring when you move to the DR!
1. A Sense of Humor.
2. Tolerance.
3.Patience.
4.Prudence.
5.A pre-paid airline ticket "Home","Just In Case"!
CC
 

LaTeacher

Bronze
May 2, 2008
852
66
48
CC I don't think he's moving here. Just planning on equipping all of the poor campesinos with everything they could ever dream but never really needed
 

Spicedwine

New member
Apr 25, 2006
568
19
0
We are awaiting our "box" - no barrel available with the company we dealt with in Florida. And it's surely different if you live here, and are sending stuff YOU want, versus sending stuff to others. Here's our take on this: to "top up" your barrel : Go to Walmart - and pick up all the packaged soup mixes, spices, condiments, canned and packaged goods you can't get here. Cheap, and they don't take up much space in the box. Also things like zip-lock bags, zip-lock containers, etc. It's amazing how much you spend on these things here. Same thing with Dollar stores. We packed our box with fabric to re-upholster furniture ( much cheaper in Florida than here ) and crazy things like an electric skillet ( remember your Mom cooking with one of these ? less than 20 bucks in Florida.) and cheap, no-name meds, aspirin, etc. Good tin-foil. The list goes on and on.
 

pi2

Banned
Oct 12, 2011
961
0
0
A couple of woofer speaker driver units - they make the boxes ok here in the DR but actual speakers are expensive and they like the music loud with good bass. 15 inch or 18 inch should be gratefully received. Also a few horn units for the higher frequencies plus crossovers.

pi2


pi2
 

pi2

Banned
Oct 12, 2011
961
0
0
A couple of woofer speaker driver units - they make the boxes ok here in the DR but actual speakers are expensive and they like the music loud with good bass. 15 inch or 18 inch should be gratefully received. Also a few horn units for the higher frequencies plus crossovers.

pi2


pi2