Last Thursday I attended the Peace Love Swap event in Burbank. For those who are not familiar with it, their mission at Peace Love Swap is to keep gently used baby, kid & maternity items out of landfills by providing communities with a place to meet, play & swap their gently used items. Any clothing or items that are left will be donated to a local children’s charity.
I arrived at La La Land Indoor Playground in Burbank around 10:15am & dropped off my bag of clothes & children’s books.
Each person received a raffle ticket & a name tag. If you were one of the first 25 people to purchase a ticket online to the event, then you received a goodie bag that contained wonderful products donated by companies such as Glam Natural, Waxelene, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, Planet Inc. & many more!
There were several volunteers on-hand to help sort through the bags of items that people dropped off.
Around 11am, they had a dance demonstration by Dancemama Fitness. This is a fun Mommy & Me dance fitness class based in North Hollywood. The moms & babies looked like they were having a blast!
After the dance demo, they raffled off some cool prizes, like organic tees from Colette Kids & a free class from A Kitchen Story, where you could learn to create your own natural soaps & lotions. After the raffle it was time to swap!
Everyone lined up outside & was handed one paper bag to fill up with clothes. Everyone gets the same size bag so as to prevent people from bringing in larger bags & “overshopping.” If you brought in a large sized item, then you get first dips on one of the larger sized items.
When you go inside, they have large rolling racks with the sizes labeled so that it’s easy to find what you are looking for.
They had tons of infant/toddler clothing, which is great since a lot of moms were looking for those sizes. I was able to pick-up a few things for my daughter to use.
I have to give props to Noellyn Phillips, the organizer of the event. It can be chaotic during the Kids Clothing Swap & hosting one of these things is no easy task. She relies on some volunteers (who receive a goodie bag as well), but other than that, she does all of the work & she does it with a smile. I was amazed because honestly I would have been tired & a bit grumpy halfway through (the scene can be a bit like Christmas shopping on Black Friday), but she remained happy & upbeat the whole time. 🙂
If you would like to attend a kids swap, you’re in luck! They are having one this June in Pasadena. Click here for more info.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary ticket to this event, as well as a goodie bag. Though a post was not required, I wanted to share my experience. All opinions are my own.
Christie says
Oh my goodness, would have love to seen the mom & baby exercise – how fun. The whole day sounds like a great idea.
Jennifer Miyagishima says
It was really neat! Everyone seemed to come away with at least a few items, to replace what they donated. I also like that the organizers donate the leftover items to a good cause.