Jeb Bladine: Growing MacHub, one donor at a time

The MacHub project has been growing, one donor at a time, since Dec. 1.

You can join that donor list the hard way: Go through the hundreds of items accumulated on your shelves and tabletops, in cabinets and every corner of your garage or attic. Identify those of value, but perhaps of greater value to someone else. Pack it all up and haul it downtown to MacHub.

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Jeb Bladine is president and publisher of the News-Register.

> See his column

Or, you can do it the easy way: Find just one thing!

Either way, you select a nonprofit organization to receive the proceeds from MacHub’s professional online sales system. Choose from a growing list of MacHub nonprofit partners, which receive a higher share of proceeds because they help promote the project, or select any other nonprofit recipient. And encourage them to become a new MacHub parter.

I took the easy way by finding one thing – a small, sterling silver knife/moneyclip. This week, it’s listed for sale through MacHub for $49.95. Part of the sales revenue will help MacHub maintain its unique operation, and net proceeds will be going to my selected nonprofit.

Now, I’m signed up with a MacHub donor account. I have online access to see the sales price for that knife and any other “stuff” I might drop off in weeks and months to come. Each sale establishes a market value for tax deductions, an important feature of the MacHub project. I can even designate different items to benefit different nonprofits.

With my MacHub account in place, I’m looking around for things that might be worth hundreds of dollars. We all have articles we don’t need, perhaps don’t even appreciate, but seem too valuable to just give away. So, they gather dust.

MacHub can convert those things into value to your selected nonprofit, value to a new owner and value to your own tax return.

MacHub is a six-month pilot project managed locally through the Yamhill County Gospel Rescue Mission. If the idea grows, it could be expanded into a national program to aid in sustainable fundraising for all manner of nonprofit organizations.

So look through your decorative art, collectibles, jewelry and small musical instruments; check out your dolls, bears, toys and hobby items; pull out those cell phones and accessories, that electrical and test equipment, and all vintage items.

But simply to make sure you get started, find just one thing and register a donor account. For more information, look online at www.MacHub.org.

Jeb Bladine can be reached at jbladine@newsregister.com or 503-687-1223.