Compassion Family: To Keep or Not to Keep All the Letters....

Monday, July 6, 2015

To Keep or Not to Keep All the Letters....

After 20 years of sponsoring various children, I have a lot of letters. Currently I have 30 children that I am receiving letters from and I am overwhelmed!

I keep letters from my current kids in the two boxes pictured above. Each child has a folder and I stick their letters in the appropriate folder. You can see the stack of letters form kids who have graduated or left the program stacked on top.

And then there are the current letters that come in each month. I keep them separate until I can respond to specific questions.

I'll be honest with you....I don't want to keep all these letters, but I feel bad getting rid of them. Do you keep all your letters? If not, is there something else you do to keep the important info you want to remember?

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dachalmers 8p · 508 weeks ago

I had the same situation last year, my stack was getting pretty high. What I've done for a while is type up the letter as soon as I receive it, and take a photo of the picture they drew. That way you still have a record of the content, without the letters taking up so much space.

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fiddlejill 88p · 508 weeks ago

This is a great idea and I guess i can just jump in and start with my current letters and not feel like i have to get to all the old ones. Do you type the letter word for word or just a little summary?

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dachalmers 8p · 508 weeks ago

I type them word for word. Maybe it's a project your kids can help with - work on their typing skills :)

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fiddlejill 88p · 508 weeks ago

That's the best idea I've heard all day!

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Jenn · 508 weeks ago

What if you scanned the letters into your computer?

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fiddlejill 88p · 508 weeks ago

Scanning seems like a lot of work (as does typing all the letters)....I'm thinking of making a "master sheet" for each kid with family and personal info as well as letter highlights. It will be a lot of work, too, but I think it will help me reconnect with the kids.

Plus, when I got a new computer a while ago, I lost the scanning software that was on it. I'm sure it's around here somewhere....

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James Schrock · 508 weeks ago

I had to smile when I read your post, because my pile is starting to add up also. I was thinking as Jenn suggested here, to scan them (the translation). I already scanned a lot of artwork and have it stored in my computer. I sometimes make cards with this artwork. I was planning to make some paperback photo books such as you can make on Walmart's digital photo center. For myself, I will probably only scan the letters that were most personal or that touched me deeply in some way, and print them in the book along with their photos. I know what you mean about throwing them away, but if you haven't gone back and read them for a few years you probably won't (especially those no longer being sponsored).

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fiddlejill 88p · 508 weeks ago

Scanning seems like a lot of work (as does typing all the letters)....I'm thinking of making a "master sheet" for each kid with family and personal info as well as letter highlights. It will be a lot of work, too, but I think it will help me reconnect with the kids.

I have gone back and re-read letters from the kids whom I'm about to meet when I travel, but even that is overwhelming with several years worth of letters.

I like your book idea....

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berry31 64p · 508 weeks ago

I've had the same thoughts and ideas. Scanning them has crossed my mind, but there are so many! I really like James' idea of making a book with artwor, photos and favorite letters for the kids who aren't in the program anymore. And David's idea is great if your kids need typing practice!!

3 replies · active 508 weeks ago

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fiddlejill 88p · 508 weeks ago

Scanning seems like a lot of work (as does typing all the letters)....I'm thinking of making a "master sheet" for each kid with family and personal info as well as letter highlights. It will be a lot of work, too, but I think it will help me reconnect with the kids.

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Hannah H. · 508 weeks ago

That's a good idea! I made a master list a few years ago and have been trying to maintain it as letters arrive. I'd love to see how you create yours and what you include, if you don't mind sharing once you're done!

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fiddlejill 88p · 508 weeks ago

I'm doing it right on my blog....I made a page called "My Compassion Kids" and will post about each one, then link to that post. I might publish several with back dates because they probably aren't very interesting to all my readers, but then they will be there in my archives and I can link to them. I wrote up several last night and then promptly discarded the letters. It was so fun to go back through the letters and remember the kids I used to sponsor. When you read back through all the letters in one sitting, you notice things you wouldn't necessarily notice by just reading each letter as you get it. For example, Suresh (whom I posted about last night) told me 4 times about the dam that is by his house - how it's full of water!

Anyway, I like that each of my kids will have their own blog post (or page) that I can go back and edit as necessary. It will be mostly for me, and it seems like a great way to keep track of all the info without physically keeping every letter sent to me.

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