Reducing consumption, keeping items out of the landfill and saving some money are the aims of a new Fergus and Elora Facebook group.
“It’s really for posting items that you’re willing to give away,” said Erin Longworth, one of the administrators of Fergus & Elora Moms Pay It Forward.
“If you have some toys, or some clothes or anything like that, you make a post that it’s available and people will comment if they’re interested, and usually they’ll just go and pick it up.
“I think a lot of the moms appreciate being able to pass things on.”
Starting the group last year with her sister, Kelly Wood, Longworth said the group quickly went from 10 members to more than 900.
“We initially reached out to people that we knew and invited them to join and they invited people they knew, so it was just word of mouth to grow it,” said Longworth. “We were amazed how many people were interested in joining.”
Similar to a buy and sell Facebook group, Longworth explains people can post about items they are giving away, or items they need for their child’s current stage of development. She notes clothes, diapers, opened formula and formula coupons often appear in the group.
“It’s great to see things aren’t going to go to waste or end up in landfills,” said Longworth, “it’s great to see everyone sharing things.”
The mother of a two-year-old son, Longworth mentions she and her husband have not had to buy many new items because of the group.
“They grow out of things so quickly, or they lose interest in things, and everything is still in good condition, so we wanted to give people the opportunity to pass things on and get what they need for the next step,” said Longworth.
“We both previously lived in Georgetown, and there was a similar group with the same kind of concept there, and we both loved it and found that it was super useful,” said Longworth. “She actually moved to Fergus a few years before me, but I moved here in 2019, and we were missing that sharing of items that we had previously, so we decided to start up a Fergus-Elora one.”
She adds she was amazed by how many people became interested in the group this past year through word-of-mouth.
“We started it up around this time last year, and we’re already at 930 members now,” said Longworth.
“I think everyone’s very grateful for the group and it’s provided a lot to people who maybe wouldn’t have reached out otherwise if they didn’t have this avenue to know other people are willing to pass things without expecting anything in return, to just help where they can.”
To join the group, Longworth mentions people can submit a request on Facebook and they will be given some pre-screening questions prior to joining. The group can be found here.
