I asked my dad about giving the Kindle to one of the hospitals where he's on staff. He said he didn't think they had such a program, and pointed out that there might be some practical and legal issues with their having it. But, knowing from you guys that it had been done to good effect elsewhere, I decided to look into it further.
I ended up emailing the volunteer coordinator at my favorite local hospital. She wrote back, very briefly, to say that it would be "greatly appreciated in the cancer center" and that I could just drop it off at the reception desk with her name on it.
(Seriously, that's pretty much the entire content of her email. The only way I have her name to put on the package is that her email program put it on the TO: line of my quoted reply.)
So... great! They'll take it, and it will do some good for cancer patients. Except that the way I'm supposed to donate it is to just drop it off with someone at the front desk, who will have no idea what I'm talking about, and to hope that things go properly from there. (Oh, and no way to give her directions on how to use it, if she isn't familiar with it already.) Also, I'm dropping off a brand new Kindle, which is worth at least $100. (A Kindle 2 model is still listed on Amazon for $259. Kindle 3 starts at $139.) As long as I'm donating it to the cancer center (which I'm quite happy to do), maybe I could list it as a tax deduction?
Basically, it'd be nice if I could get a receipt. I emailed her back to say that I'd try to get there soon, and ask if she knew whether I could list it as a tax deduction. No response yet.
Looking at the hospital's website, however, I see that they are a non-profit and that they are actively looking for donations of entertainment materials for the pediatrics ward. Hmm.
Meantime, I have another little issue: I don't have the box anymore (I had to use it to mail back the damaged one) and it's currently registered to my account. I'm thinking I should charge it up, deregister it, and download the MobileRead Kindle-formatted linked catalog of public domain ebooks to it. Helpful, but then it looks perhaps a shade less than brand new. Thoughts?
Well, we'll see. Looks like it's going to the hospital, somehow or other. (Maybe I'll have Dad drop it off, next time he goes there on rounds. I haven't been well enough to drive in weeks.)
ETA: And, literally within seconds of posting this, I got a response from the Executive VP of the hospital. He's very happy with the idea of having it at the cancer center and says that if I include my snail mail addy in a note when I drop it off, he'll mail me a donation receipt. Now I just have to figure out how much it's actually worth. (Hmm. Used "Like New" starts at $120. That seems fair.)
I ended up emailing the volunteer coordinator at my favorite local hospital. She wrote back, very briefly, to say that it would be "greatly appreciated in the cancer center" and that I could just drop it off at the reception desk with her name on it.
(Seriously, that's pretty much the entire content of her email. The only way I have her name to put on the package is that her email program put it on the TO: line of my quoted reply.)
So... great! They'll take it, and it will do some good for cancer patients. Except that the way I'm supposed to donate it is to just drop it off with someone at the front desk, who will have no idea what I'm talking about, and to hope that things go properly from there. (Oh, and no way to give her directions on how to use it, if she isn't familiar with it already.) Also, I'm dropping off a brand new Kindle, which is worth at least $100. (A Kindle 2 model is still listed on Amazon for $259. Kindle 3 starts at $139.) As long as I'm donating it to the cancer center (which I'm quite happy to do), maybe I could list it as a tax deduction?
Basically, it'd be nice if I could get a receipt. I emailed her back to say that I'd try to get there soon, and ask if she knew whether I could list it as a tax deduction. No response yet.
Looking at the hospital's website, however, I see that they are a non-profit and that they are actively looking for donations of entertainment materials for the pediatrics ward. Hmm.
Meantime, I have another little issue: I don't have the box anymore (I had to use it to mail back the damaged one) and it's currently registered to my account. I'm thinking I should charge it up, deregister it, and download the MobileRead Kindle-formatted linked catalog of public domain ebooks to it. Helpful, but then it looks perhaps a shade less than brand new. Thoughts?
Well, we'll see. Looks like it's going to the hospital, somehow or other. (Maybe I'll have Dad drop it off, next time he goes there on rounds. I haven't been well enough to drive in weeks.)
ETA: And, literally within seconds of posting this, I got a response from the Executive VP of the hospital. He's very happy with the idea of having it at the cancer center and says that if I include my snail mail addy in a note when I drop it off, he'll mail me a donation receipt. Now I just have to figure out how much it's actually worth. (Hmm. Used "Like New" starts at $120. That seems fair.)