Several holiday food resources for Boston folks

Apologies that these are jpgs and not accessible to screen readers -- I wanted to get them up ASAP, but please leave a comment if you can't access them and I can assist you if you need food resources.  

A whole bunch of free Thanksgiving food and other things on iBotta right now

If you don't already have iBotta, sign up here. It's super hit-or-miss, but it's been good lately.

Most of the deals are only available at Walmart, and there isn't one nearby, but you can sign up for a free trial of Walmart+ and get the things delivered for free. When I tried my address (02119 ZIP code), it told me it wasn't available here, but I know my neighbors use it, so I just signed up and placed orders, and it does work. Try putting together an order and going to checkout, and it will show you if delivery is available to you. If it is, sign up for the free trial. BTW, they extend the free trial "just for answering a couple survey questions" and it ends up being about a one-month trial.

The Quincy Walmart doesn't have much of a grocery selection, so select your delivery from Walpole, which does deliver here, amazingly. (I assume Walmart policies are based on parts of the country where a store 18 miles away might be one of the closest ones).

iBotta has kind of a cool plugin for Walmart, where you can browse iBotta deals, click on them to have them show on the Walmart site, and then it will light up the products for which an iBotta deal works. It's actually super cool. There are a bunch of completely free items (and a few that were like -5 cents) -- stuffing mix, gravy packet, cornbread mix, cream of mushroom soup, frozen vegetables, Coca Cola two liter, Izze drinks, and others. There are also some great 50% off or so deals on other items. iBotta also has bonuses where you save more when you do a certain number of deals. The November one requires 48 deals, which is unlikely for most folks to get to unless you have a huge family or are stocking up a business or something, but there are also frequent smaller mid-week or weekend ones, so wait for one of those. 

Free event Sept 25 (art supplies, family activities, swag, etc.)

 

Free books Sept 23-25

Requires advance registration. Details here.

Free kayaking, ICA admission, and more for Roxbury and Dorchester residents*

*looks like they're flexible on residency too for those in adjoining neighborhoods

 

Two days, August 14 and September 12. Sign up here. 

City of Boston program will build you a free raised garden bed and fill it with soil

 Program signup here. It looks like there aren't any requirements other than living in Boston.

City of Boston offering free winter fitness classes around the city

I know nothing about this other than seeing the website, but it looks cool:

PDF schedule

Website with more detailed info

Free STEAM camp in Roslindale during July

I know nothing about this camp, but thought I'd pass it along.

The Food Project Build-a-Garden Program will, well, build you a garden

I just found out about this program from a leaflet in the library. I don't know anything about it other than what's on the flier/website and knowing that the organization as a whole has a good reputation.

So, it looks like for a contribution of at least $25 they will build you a raised bed garden and provide soil and seedlings. This program states it is for low-income and moderate-income households in Roxbury/Dorchester/Mattapan with a preference for families with children. It does not appear to have a hard income limit or require that you have SNAP like many programs.

Free February break workshops and full-day field trips at 826 Boston for 6-12 year olds

I apologize for not sharing this earlier. Some of the workshops still have space available.

826 Boston, located in Egleston Square, does free workshops for ages 6-12 during school vacation weeks. The workshops my kids have attended have varied somewhat in quality, as they are typically run by an author, activist, professor, etc. who is not affiliated with the organization. Some of the facilitators have been very strong in terms of working with a diverse group of youths, and others have seemed less so. Regardless, they've all been decent, and we've never had a bad experience there. Parents are welcome to drop off their youth or stay in the back of the (gorgeous!) space, where there are couches and a library set up. The space is a large open converted-industrial-type space, which means the acoustics and the visual distractions of people walking around are not ideal for students with sensory or attention issues, but the open space is great in terms of parents being able to hang out in back and be available to their student without being particularly present unless needed.

Museum of Science has a bunch of summer programs, and admission is free with EBT or WIC card

Read their e-mail here.

Lots of programs this summer that are included with admission; highlights include space and crocodiles. Membership is free with an EBT card or WIC card. No need to stand in line; just show your card to the person at the entrance to the main part of the museum. Get your hand stamped and you can visit the Discovery Center near the Planetarium as well.

Income-based Hubway is back and has some changes

Hubway once again has an income-based plan. It's now $5 per month instead of $5 per year, but if I'm reading this right, it's not as bad as it sounds. It looks like they only charge your card during months that you take out a bike. So for $5, you can take a bike out as many times as you want (under 60 minutes) during that month. Much cheaper than the T or rideshare, and for trips within the city, biking will usually get you places faster than other modalities.

Also, they're only letting people sign up online if they have an EBT card. Anyone using WIC, Masshealth, SSI, etc. needs to sign up in person. I'm guessing though that if that's a hardship, you can probably talk to someone about e-mailing your documentation. No mention of free helmets anymore, but Amazon has several for around $15-20 each, which is not a lot to protect your noggin.

Second Daily Table Open in Dudley

Story from the Banner about it here

Good Neighbor Energy Fund, for people who make too much for fuel assistance

I just got a call from the Good Neighbor Energy Fund, asking me if I wanted to apply, since we have done so in years past. For the past few years, we've qualified for fuel assistance, but Good Neighbor is a great program if you make too much for fuel assistance. The website has the income limits listed right up front on the page, so if you didn't qualify for fuel assistance and still need help, check it out. It works basically the same way, where you bring in your documentation and they pay the utility company directly. It's administered by the Salvation Army, which, yes, I know is problematic in many ways. The people who administer the program are much much more user friendly than the people at ABCD fuel assistance.

Heads up for people who use the MA DOR free webfile for income tax

Apparently the state's own tax website is no longer active. They now are publishing a list of sites that will file your taxes for free based on income.

OLT will file them for free if you make between $13,000 and $62,000 AGI. However, if you've already filed your federal taxes elsewhere, you can't use this site; it only will file federal and state at the same time. You can pay $7.95 to file your state return alone on this site though. If you make more than $62,000 AGI, I'm not sure why you're reading my site*, but they will file it for $7.95 for state and $7.95 for federal.

1040NOW will file just the state return (or both, if you don't file federal elsewhere) for free if you make under $32,000 AGI. Be sure to use the link with "freefileMA" in it.

MA Department of Revenue doesn't list them, but Turbotax will also file for free if you are eligible to file 1040A or 1040EZ (income under $100,000, don't itemize deductions, no self-employment, no unusual credits or deductions besides the common ones like Earned Income Tax Credit and child credit.)

If you google free e-filing and your situation, you will find more companies that do free e-filing for students, people with disability income, military families, or whatever your case may be.

You can also print out the form and mail it for free. It takes longer to get your refund, but it's free. If you want to make sure you don't make any errors, most of the commercial tax websites (TaxSlayer, etc.) will let you do everything but file the return without paying. You can let it do all the calculations for the credits and everything and then transfer it to a paper form.

(*That's a joke. I realize of course that there are people with high incomes on paper who are supporting relatives, have high disability expenses, are trying to save a failing home business, and so forth.)

Ship Goodwill donations for free if you can't drop them off

I'm not sure how green this actually is, in terms of using up a box and taping it up and printing a label and all that rather than just walking over and dropping off donations in overflowing trash bags like we tend to. But for people who live in rural areas, or who can't always leave loved ones to do errands, or aren't physically able to get out as much as they'd like, Give Back Box sounds pretty great. It's definitely better than tossing perfectly usable items in the trash, which I see far too many people doing.

How it works is: You put your things in any box you have lying around (they're partnered with businesses like Amazon and REI that are specifically encouraging people to use their boxes for this purpose, but it can be any box), print a label from their site, and arrange for UPS/USPS to come get it. It then gets shipped to Goodwill.

In terms of Goodwill Industries, I am aware that the charity is problematic in some ways. Their stores are run as a sheltered workshop program, which means that individuals with significant disabilities are paid less than minimum wage to sort, tag, wash, and display merchandise. Employees with a higher level of independence get paid minimum wage to work the cash registers and interact with the public. Some disability advocates believe that no one should be a subminimum wage, even people with severe disabilities who aren't able to work without constant supervision and assistance, who would be watching movies all day in an adult daycare program if sheltered employment wasn't available. Other advocates have raised concerns that Goodwill continues to pay some folks a subminimum wage even after they've progressed and have demonstrated that they can complete a typical amount of work with minimal extra support. Be aware though that a hoax post is going around stating that Goodwill is a for-profit company and the CEO makes $2.3 million per year, and this information is not in fact accurate. They are a nonprofit and Charity Navigator rates them highly.

In the Boston area, if you are able to donate in person, or you have a donation large enough for them to send a truck, I would suggest donating to Boomerangs. They support the AIDS Action Committee and are completely legit. Their website also has a list of charities where you can donate items that thrift stores don't take. But if you have a smaller amount of items and would otherwise be putting them in the trash, please check out Give Back Box and help those items get reused by struggling families instead of ending up in a landfill.

MA DCF foster adoption subsidy payment schedule 2016-2017

I scanned this and am posting it here for other families who foster, have guardianship of relatives, etc. DCF typically is almost a year behind in posting it on their site. As of today, they still have last year's up. I couldn't find my paper copy and tried to google and see if it was posted anywhere. I found a ton of people looking for it, but didn't actually find it.

So, here it is, the 2016-2017 MA Massachusetts DCF Department of Children and Families Foster Care and Adoption/Guardianship Subsidy Payment Schedule, which runs from July 2016 through June 2017 and includes the dates for foster payments, adoption subsidies, guardianship subsidies, clothing checks, and holiday bonuses from the aforementioned Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. (Hey, just trying to make this findable on The Google, OK?)

Click here to see it full size. 

Good site for comparing prescription costs

A friend told me about GoodRx. I haven't played around with it much, because we are super fortunate to have Masshealth, but the site works, and various interwebs reviews tell me the information is accurate. Apparently the out-of-pocket cost for various meds can be a few dollars at one pharmacy chain and a few hundred at another. So definitely check it out before paying if you're ever told something isn't covered.

Free book giveaway

Thanks to a generous donation of Disney inventory from First Book and the AFT, the BTU and BTU-PAC will be giving away 25,000 FREE Disney books!

When:   Tuesday, December 13, 2016, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Where:  Boston Teachers Union, 180 Mt. Vernon Street, Dorchester, MA 02125
Parking Available: Use 80 Day Boulevard, Dorchester for GPS directions.
MBTA Accessible: Less than a 5 minute walk from the JFK/UMass Red Line.

Click here for more information.

Also, the person who sent me the invite mentioned that there will be books for all reading levels, up through highschool. Typically these events tend to only have preschool or early elementary books, so this is nice to see.

I can't find additional information as to whether the books will all be Disney-themed, or whether it's just a partnership. I checked out the First Book website, which has a lot of great information and resources, and it seems to indicate that they receive a lot of funding from Disney, but doesn't suggest that the events center around Disney books. It's possible someone misunderstood, or it's possible that this will be Disney books. It seems worth checking out even for people who stay away from Disney for social reasons, because Disney also owns Star Wars and a bunch of other media that most people find less problematic.

Free Museum of Fine Arts admission every day

This doesn't seem to be well publicized, but the MFA is free for the last hour they are open every day. They also have $3 tickets for EBT card holders, if you want to stay longer. If you don't have an EBT card though, the last hour thing is such a good deal for people who are close by and can just come back another time to see more. Admission is ordinarily $25 for a ticket, which, wow.