One of the Holiday Cards available from the Doe Fund

Offer your help for the holidays to the people who need it most!

Has the holiday season got you feeling extra generous? Us too! Our Holiday Toy Drive for the homeless children of NYC was a great success! Thank you so much to everyone who came by our locations to drop off a toy. While the toys are gone, it’s not too late to donate to the New York Cares Coat Drive. Donate new or used coats to any Manhattan Mini Storage location by Jan. 14. We’ll do the rest!

If you still want to offer your help for the holidays we’ve got some more great ideas to help you give back to the community and spread a little extra joy around this season.

Great Holiday Charity Ideas From Manhattan Mini Storage

Send Fuzzy Festive Holiday Greetings: PETA’s Holiday 2010 Rescued Calendar features beautiful photographs of animals alongside their rescue stories which will melt the heart of any Grinch, while the Gift Card set features adorable rats snuggled together on the front – sure to make you rethink your subway critters. (www.petacatalog.com) Once you’ve purchased, head over the PETA naughty list to give a lump of coal to Ronald McDonald or the CEO of Seaworld. (features.peta.org/Naughty-List/)

Have a Blue Christmas: Men in blue, that is, referring to the members of the Doe Fund’s Ready Willing and Able brigrade, which creates programs to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction, and criminal recidivism. Honor them this season by purchasing their stunning, glossy holiday cards pack or by joining in on the December 25 vigil at Grand Central in memory of their founder and namesake, Mama Doe. (http://www.doe.org)

Jingle All the Way: You’ve seen the ubiquitous red kettles at malls, grocery stores and on just about every street corner in Manhattan. The Salvation Army Times Square Corps is a time-honored holiday tradition that transforms donations into cheer-bringing gifts to the ailing and homeless of NYC during the holidays. Drop some change into their buckets or join the bell-ringing brigade yourself! (www.salvationarmy.org)

Wrap One Up For the Elderly: Got an afternoon or two to put some pizzazz on a package? DOROT, a nationwide nonprofit organization that specializes in elderly assistance, offers opportunities to help gift wrap packages for seniors at various Barnes & Noble locations during the month of December.  You can also sign up for holiday gift delivery duty on the Sunday before Channukah. (www.dorot.com)

Find Your Perfect Match: We know you’re busy, which is why New York Cares makes it easy for you to find ways to help for the holidays.  Go to their website, enter in your schedule and your location, and see a list of  programs that would be the best fit for you. With over the 1,200 opportunities listed year round, we’re sure it will be easy to find a holiday opportunity to match. (www.nycares.org)

Spread the Glee: Looking for fun and kid friendly holiday charity ideas this season? Look no further than Only Make Believe, a program that allows you to organize events, dress up in fun costumes and bring smiles to the faces of children in hospitals and care facilities. (www.onlymakebelieve.org/)

Feel Warm and Fuzzy: Looking for an extra cozy way to help out this holiday? Join Visions knitting circles, assisting the needle-wielding volunteers with choosing colors, materials and picking patterns while they create gifts for the blind or visually impaired. (www.visionsvcb.org)

Holiday Magic in NYC

“Pretzels roasting on an open fire…Gray slush nipping at your toes…”

Yes, folks, the holidays are upon us in New York City. And what a wonderful time it is to be a New Yorker! The sparkling window displays, the chill in the air, maybe even a magical little snowfall to blanket the city in a comforting hush. (Well, until it turns into half-melted mess the next day.)

It’s a magical time in this great metropolis, but as parties begin and the shopping shifts into high gear, we have some suggestions to keep the season bright! 

Where are the Elves When You Need ‘Em?

Don’t know about you, but the top item on our wish is a Magical Holiday Elf to clean our apartment, juggle our schedule and take care of the inevitable last minute shopping. Alas, it’s doubtful that a Magical Holiday Elf is going to make an appearance anytime soon, so alternate sources of relief are called for.

So, what’s a quick and easy way to help manage life during the hectic holiday season? You guessed it! A little bit of Manhattan Mini can go along way towards maintaining your party season sanity.

Store Your Way to Holiday Sanity

Okay, so self storage space in Manhattan doesn’t exactly scream “holidays in NYC”. But hear us out because we bet you haven’t thought about all the ways you can use it to your advantage!

• Stash Your Presents (Before and After the Holidays): Keeping surprise buys from prying eyes is difficult when even the space under your bed is packed to the gills. So not why try a closet storage solution? You’ll keep those presents hidden, and after the holidays have a place to stash that, um, unique Madonna and Cat painting Aunt Millie gave you. (She’ll be sooooo disappointed if it isn’t proudly displayed when she visits this summer.)
• Holiday Décor Control: Ah…holiday decorations. Please resist the urge to leave them up all year. (No. Really. That tree needs to be gone by March, people.) Just store ‘em – that way, they stay organized (no more finding your favorite stocking the day after Christmas) and you’ll have a safe place to stash the menorah once the candles are out.
• No Stress Package Receiving: Put an end to package delivery panic! We’ll be your doorman, baby. Rent with us and we’ll happily receive and sign for your precious holiday packages. Seriously, if you holiday shop online or expect lots of packages coming in for the kiddies, this review excerpt from Yelp says it all:

“…I no longer break into a cold sweat when I’m told UPS and Fedex are the only shipping options.”

• Trip the Holiday Light Fantastic!: Planning a party? Stash some furniture and make way for a disco ball! Storage doesn’t have to be a long-term commitment, so if you just need a month  to make way for holiday hijinx, we’re happy to accommodate.

Yep. Holidays in New York are wonderful, magical, stressful and impractical. And, now that we think of it, maybe there actually are Magical Holiday Elves out there. Maybe they just work at Manhattan Mini Storage?

I mean, they’ll pack your stuff, move it out for you, keep it safely tucked away, and help bring order to chaos. Yes, Virginia, there IS a Storage Claus!