“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give” is a saying often attributed (apparently falsely) to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
These words of wisdom would be equally apt coming from Jim Stevens, founder and CEO of the nonprofit GiftsToGive, which works to combat childhood poverty one gift package at a time. He believes the lessons that volunteers and donors — especially children — draw from helping GiftsToGive can help to build a more caring society.
Part of the Baby Boom generation, Stevens began his “meteoric” career as a salesman for Revlon right out of college, and then made the move to Max Factor with his boss, finding himself a vice president in his middle 20s. Stepping back from the corporate world to raise his two sons, he found great success as a “serial entrepreneur” in the ’70s and ’80s.
His 20 years of experience with Special Olympics and several years as president of a children’s charity in Boston, Cradles to Crayons, provided a model for his launch of GiftsToGive in 2009.
His aim was to establish a nonprofit that would be purely volunteer-driven, with no payroll and no reliance on government grants. With a commitment to transparency, GiftsToGive posts its financial reports and tax returns on its website. Charity Navigator, an online research tool to guide donors in making their philanthropy most effective, gives GiftsToGive a score of 100%, a four-star rating.
Originally located in New Bedford’s South End, since 2014 GiftsToGive has occupied a sprawling space at the former Acushnet Process plant at 4 Slocum St. in Acushnet.
In 2023, about 10,000 children in need from the South Coast and beyond received gift packages composed of clothing, books, school supplies, and toys, distributed through 1,100 partners such as social workers, school nurses, teachers, guidance counselors, faith groups, community agencies, and other organizations.
Proceeds from the well-stocked thrift shop, open only on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., were enough to cover the nonprofit’s operating expenses last year.
Annually, volunteers contribute as many as 60,000 hours of work to power GiftsToGive. They are retirees; groups from churches, businesses, and service organizations; casual drop-ins; and more than 12,000 youngsters from Scout troops and local schools, from age 3 to mid-80s. The youngest make printed wrapping paper for birthday presents. Some volunteers sort and process donations, inspect and clean toys, fold and organize clothing by size on the shelves and racks. Dartmouth Select Board chair David Tatelbaum, founder of (and retiree from) the now-closed Big Value Outlet store, stops by to make short videos to promote the thrift shop and volunteer opportunities on the organization’s Facebook page.
As Stevens likes to say, everybody has gifts to give.
In this interview with the New Bedford Light, Stevens explains the philosophy behind GiftsToGive, how it benefits youngsters who volunteer as well as the 10,000 children living in poverty who receive a gift pack each year, and why more adults should consider giving their time.
New Bedford Light: How did the skill set you developed in your professional career and in your years as a “serial entrepreneur” prepare you for a venture like GiftsToGive?
Jim Stevens: Well, it was that — the skills that I learned. I’m a sales and marketing guy, but it was also through my experience of 20 years with Special Olympics. My first son is autistic, and I was one of the early founders of Special Olympics. Being a sales and marketing guy, I’ve learned that it’s about relationships. And I learned early, early on as a salesman that people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. So it was very important for me to be clear and concise in my call to action.
I learned in Special Olympics that relationship trumps everything. In the beginning of (GiftsToGive) it was really difficult. Almost nobody came to volunteer. They couldn’t understand the mission: I was going to collect things and give them away for free; I didn’t want to pay anybody; I didn’t want to take a grant.
It was really hard in the beginning. But I just hung out, being present. I showed up every day. Down the road a couple of months in, one person came and said, “This makes a lot of sense. I think it’s a little crazy, but I’m with you.” And then a third person, and a fourth person. We’ve built something: We’ve built a more caring community. Now there’s over 150 people that show up regularly, and there’s thousands of people that come in and volunteer. So again, it’s about building relationships.
NBL: At its center, the GiftsToGive mission is about kids. Your website mentions “Tangible Philanthropy and Big Citizenship.” Would you expand on that?
JS: It’s teaching them to be a contributor to society … (and) that character matters. That the truth matters. That your word matters. That you’re responsible not only for yourself, but other people. And after your family and your church, and your school, it’s your community. … But where does a family share their values? Yesterday (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) was fascinating. We had maybe not 100 families, maybe 55 or 60 families yesterday just drop in (to volunteer) with their kids to share their values as a family. And what a wonderful thing for those children to see their parents doing something. You have to model (behavior). Where do you learn citizenship? I think it’s the same place you learn philanthropy. And I think it might be the same place you’re learning love and compassion and empathy.
NBL: Was doing good for others instilled in you as a child?
JS: I was brought up (with the philosophy) “To whom much is given, much is expected” — that we had a responsibility to our family and to our neighbors, to our church. When I was a kid, there were 40 touchpoints (connections to adults). I couldn’t get in trouble if I wanted to.
I remember getting in trouble at 10 or 11 years old, and being in the back of a police car being taken home, and crying to take me to prison, because I didn’t want to shame my grandmother. Right? I knew I was gonna get whacked when I got home, but (more important) I didn’t want my grandmother to be embarrassed. And it was something silly. I took lobsters. Every Friday, the fishmonger would drop off clams and lobsters, and I hated them. I took them down to the post office to send them to the starving children in China. And the policeman took me home. That was my first arrest.
I was brought up in the ’50s, and it was just a different time. Yeah. I mean, segregation was rampant. I didn’t see any of it until I became a teenager. … My first involvement was running away from home at 14 with two other kids and going to Birmingham. I was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama. Well, I wasn’t arrested. My traveler’s checks were taken away from me, stolen by a cop in Birmingham, and I was put on a bus and sent back …
Yeah, so I just grew up in a different time where we cared about each other and there was faith … I look at the fraternal organizations, and they’re all gone. It seems like the Girl Scouts are the only group that seems to be thriving. … The Rotary, the Kiwanis, the Masons, they’re all dwindling. No one’s joining anymore.
NBL: Everyone wants to feel good about being “green” by recycling their stuff. About a half-million pounds of clothing alone were repurposed by GiftsToGive in 2023. How much of a problem is dealing with unusable donations?
JS: It’s huge. I mean, it’s crazy. Why someone donates a sweater with a big stain and or a bicycle missing a tire, I have no idea. But 50% (of the 30,000 pounds a week) of stuff that’s dropped off at our back door is trash.
(There is information on GiftsToGive.org about what donations are welcome, and signs at the drop-off dock stating what is not acceptable. Disposal of unusable goods is a cash drain.)
I have a sign down there that says “Don’t give us your crap.” I have a sign down there that says “Have a heart.” I have a sign that says “Please read this.” The Acushnet police are nice enough when we call them and say “We have somebody that dropped off five mattresses and here is the license plate” to call (the offenders) and say “Mr. Stevens wants to file a criminal complaint unless you come down and take the mattresses away,” and most of the time, they will.
But the point of the conversation is how do we get the other stuff? We’re actually starting to morph back to the way we did it 15 years ago, and do specific collection drives in schools so that we’re only getting children’s clothes. But adult clothes now are important to us because we operate a thrift store. So … half the stuff coming in is bad. The other half of the stuff is golden. And we need it.
NBL: Some people who retire look forward to playing more golf or learning a new hobby. For some, that’s not appealing at all. How does it benefit retirees to volunteer for GiftsToGive?
JS: You live longer. You have purpose in your life. You get in more steps. You know you do something meaningful. You live intentionally.
We’re living in a shitshow and … who’s gonna fix it? We have to fix it, and the only way I know to fix it is to come together. I mean, Dr. King talked about a beloved community. How do you build a connected, caring community? The only way to do it is to show up and do it. There are people who believe that, and there are people that walk the walk … We’re looking for people that want to be here. You can’t talk them into being here.
NBL: Individuals can’t apply for help directly. So how does the distribution of goods work?
JS: How we do it is really smart. We’re not social workers, we’re social entrepreneurs. And we built a really sophisticated online shopping cart called the gift engine. It is connected to about 300 agencies — they’re listed on our website — and the agencies translate to about 1,100 users: social workers, shelter workers, school nurses … They can go online and say “I’ve got a 9-year-old girl named Mary and she wears size 12 clothes. She needs a week’s worth of winter clothes, a winter jacket, size 14, a book bag and school supplies for the fifth grade. And oh, by the way, the mom could use a stroller for the 1-year-old sibling.”
A volunteer will take that request, go around the factory (to collect the items), bag them and tag them, send an email that it’s ready. The social worker, school nurse, shelter worker comes and picks it up.
We never see the families we help. We only see the families that help us.
Joanna McQuillan Weeks is a freelance writer and frequent correspondent for The New Bedford Light.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.For more information about GiftsToGive, including how to donate or volunteer, visit giftstogive.org, email contactus@giftstogive.org, or call 508-717-8715.
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