The Stella Foundation
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Who We Are
Our Roots
At The Stella Foundation, we know that sometimes all it takes to change the world is a little support. Since our official founding in 2000, we have been determined to make an impact Internationally as well as nationally. We began by working with a range of established charities in developing countries all over the world, catering to those in extreme poverty - orphanages, old age homes, homeless shelters, medical charities (including Palliative care centres for the terminally ill, dwellings and rehabilitation centres for the destitute mentally ill, rehab centres for stroke patients and people with spinal injuries, etc) - providing funding as well as donating items collected from family and friends. Our collections increased exponentially in 2007 with the launching of Freecycle, and later Freegle, and various Facebook sharing and gifting groups. As a consumer society, we are all too aware of the phenomenal quantity of things that are discarded daily by many of us - waste which is prized and treasured by the desperately poor in most third world countries. We believe these unwanted articles can be put to good use by charities in the third world, and by asking people to donate their unwanted items, we are not only helping the poor, but also rescuing things from landfill that only increase pollution and damage the environment.
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In addition to donated merchandise, we also donate money to overseas charities, both for running costs and for specified projects, and also for the purchase of essential items. Some of the things we have contributed towards include wheelchairs for the disabled, ambulances for palliative care centres, and construction of homeless shelters, palliative care clinics and orphanages.
At TSF we are guided by the principle that all humans have a right to live with dignity and without want. Several years ago we extended our services to the local community when we became aware there were people locally who needed our help too. We currently collect and distribute food as well as other essential items (such as warm clothes, electricals, etc) to people in need in the local area. Through all of our endeavors we hope to display the conviction behind our beliefs.
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Our local clientele
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The vast majority of our local clients have come to us either by word of mouth or via social media channels, and through groups such as Freegle. If you are aware of anyone in need of food or other essentials, please let us know.
We can try to deliver food (groceries, baked goods) to you provided you are reasonably close by and in Kettering. Alternately, you are welcome to collect from us at a mutually convenient place and time.
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If you suffer from a medical condition, particularly a genetic disorder, please let us know in advance as there are certain foods which may be contra-indicated in your case, such as high carb items. We do not wish to unwittingly supply foods which may be damaging to your health.
Poverty alleviation and good health care for all is our goal
Reinforcing our Commitment
"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me". Matthew 25:40
Ways We Help
As mentioned earlier, much of our efforts in the International sector focus around the collection of unwanted goods donated by kindly local citizens. We then send these items overseas to the various charities we partner with in developing countries. As shipping charges are prohibitive and would exceed the value of the goods donated, we rely on volunteers (regular and one-off) who are travelling to those countries and can take packages for us. All donated items are given in open bags so that volunteers are free to check the nature of the goods they are transporting for us. The beneficiary charities collect the items from them at the other end.
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Although this is by no means an exhaustive list, here are some of the things we collect and donate to overseas charities.
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Things we collect
Clothes (for children and adults)
Night dresses and pyjamas and pyjama tops (for adults and children)
Jackets (for winter and spring), for both children and adults
Underclothes for adults and children, if clean and in good condition
Shorts for men and boys
T-shirts
Cotton fabric or any other fabric (for making clothes and furnishings)
Wool
Curtains
Duvets and duvet covers
Bed linen
Cushions and Pillows
Blankets, slankets
Warm clothes (thermal wear, shawls, sweaters, cardigans, caps, hats, etc etc)
Sun hats (straw hats, cloth hats)
Sun glasses
Spectacles and Empty Spectacle cases
Hair cutting implements (manual hair-cutting scissors and electrical hair clippers)
Nose-hair and beard trimmers
Grooming products for men and women
Nail-cutters
Epilators
Foot Spas
Pot Pourri
Sewing machines
Microwave ovens
Blenders, food processors
Pressure Cookers
Pots and pans
Plastic food storage containers
Coffee and Tea and Sugar Canisters
Water bottles
Shaker bottles (to mix up protein drinks for the elderly and convalescing)
Sippy cups
Bread boxes
Coffee makers
Ice-cream makers
Bread-makers
Yogurt makers
Soup makers
Slow cookers
Mixing bowls
Cake boxes (to store baked cakes in)
Cake tins (to bake the cakes in)
Any other baking items - trays, etc.
Wooden spoons
Electrical items of any kind
Table lamps and lampshades
Sharpening stones
Crockery and cutlery
Stationery (notebooks, letter-pads, gem clips, files and folders, pens, pencils, colouring pens, etc etc)
Diaries (don't have to be current, as they are only used as notebooks)
Letter-pads
Ring binders and files
Books (fiction and non-fiction)
Children's books
Toys, puzzles, games
Baby monitors
Laptops
Mobile phones (both smartphones and ordinary "button phones")
Digital cameras and ordinary old-fashioned cameras
Alarm clocks and wall-clocks (both analogue and digital)
Wrist watches
Thermos flasks
Thermos food flasks
Hot cases (to keep food warm in)
Cool-bags
Picnic dishes and Picnic bags
Pyrex dishes
Glass bowls
Lunch bags and lunch boxes
Weighing machines for food (regular and digital)
Bathroom scales (regular and digital)
Decorative items and curios
Wheelchairs
Walkers and walking sticks
Crutches
Disability aids of any kind
Incontinence pads
High protein drinks and shakes for people who sick and convalescing
Medical supplies (gauze, cotton, sealed catheters, etc etc)
Vitamins and supplements
Infant formula and milk
Any dried foods or sealed foods that are long-lasting
Things for babies (including carry cots, etc)
Pet foods for cats and dogs (as many of the charities we support have pet animals on site)
Pet toys
Soaps, shampoos, body-washes, toothpaste, toiletries of any kind (including opened and partially used ones)
Scents, perfumes and fragrances (incl opened and partly used ones)
Talcum powder and Face powder
Lotions and potions (including opened and partially used ones)
Cosmetics (incl opened and partially used ones)
Ladies' Handbags and purses
Gentlemen's wallets
Suitcases, travel bags, etc.
Suitcase locks and keys
Regular padlocks of any kind, with keys
Measuring tapes
Schoolbags
Backpacks
School uniforms
Laptop bags
Bins (metal and plastic)
Cleaning products of any kind (soaps, soap-powder, detergents, dish-washing liquid, Mr Muscle products, etc etc)
Plastic storage boxes (so we can store donations)
Laundry baskets
Plastic washing up bowls
Plastic bin liners, and large and small plastic carrier bags (we use these to pack the items we send overseas)
Bubble wrap (to pack breakables like crockery)
Brown packing paper (to pack breakables)
Sticky tape and Sellotape (for packing the cartons we send overseas)
Timers (to turn lights on and off automatically)
Travel adaptors
Wash bags
Cosmetic bags
Hair dryers
Thermometers - clinical, oven, fridge
Electric drill, screws, nails, DIY stuff
Garden hedge clippers (manual and electric), Pruners, Secateurs
Other garden tools
School uniforms
Paper shredders
Baby wipes, and other wipes
Baby nappies and Adult nappies
Incontinence panties for adults
Cool-bags
USB Charging stations
Power banks
Wall chargers
USB-C adaptors
Mobile phone charging cables
Mobile phone covers
Mobile phone screen protectors
Label makers
Electric and manual pencil sharpeners
Erasers (i.e. rubbers for use in school)
Posters and wall-paintings
Doorbells and Video doorbells
Light bulbs (ordinary, LED, long-life, etc)
Key rings
Candles and Candle holders
Tea-light holders
​Mobile phones - smartphones, old type button phones, tablets, iPads, etc, both working and non-working (can be repaired and re-used)
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In short, if it can be packed into a suitcase or sturdy cardboard box and taken by air, we can make use of it.
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We have on one occasion even managed to send small bedside tables by air through a resourceful and willing volunteer.
Would you like to support our efforts? At the moment we are short of volunteers who can collect articles gifted by our many donors. If you drive and would like to collect for us, please get in touch. Items can be dropped off at a volunteer's home in Kettering, where they will be stored, pending transportation overseas.
If would like to donate something, may we request you to deliver it to us if possible?
Alternately, if you travel regularly to a developing country and would not mind taking donated goods for us, please contact us.
Food Donation Drop-Off
Reinforcing our Commitment
Our Team
Pete
Lu
Sara
Andy
Mark
Dave
While the six of us are "regulars", we do have a number of other volunteers and well-wishers who help us out from time to time. We have all spent time working and volunteering in medical charities and mission hospitals in third world countries. In fact some of us have done our medical electives (during our student days, many many moons ago) in aforementioned countries, which was what triggered our interest in, and desire to do more, in those countries.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank the countless people in the United Kingdom, too numerous to list, who have so generously donated items to us over the years, in aid of our overseas charities. You have no idea what a big difference your gifts have made to people in those countries.
We are particularly grateful to Frank and Hilary and others at St Edward's Church, and to Kathy and others at the St Peter and St Paul Church, for their kindness and generosity in supplying those of our clients who are unable to cook for one reason or another, with hot cooked food.
We are also thankful to Fare Share and to the many individuals who donate groceries from time to time, and to our volunteers who drive all over Northamptonshire to collect donated items for us.
A big thank you to you all - we could not do it without you.
Things we always need
We are always on the lookout for the following items which are needed for the storage, packing and transportation of donated articles abroad.
1) Suitcases, holdalls, and travel bags
2) Large plastic bags (bin-liners and the like)
3) Plastic carrier bags
4) Sturdy cardboard boxes
If you are able to donate any of the above, do please get in touch.
Environmental Awareness & Avoiding Waste
Working Towards a Better Tomorrow
We are very environmentally conscious and re-use or recycle all packaging, plastic, etc. We hate the idea of sending recyclable items to landfill.
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We do not like wasting food, when so many the world over are in serious want - so if donations exceed demand, as they occasionally do, we prefer to leave them for other charities to collect.
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Occasionally it turns out that groceries spoil quickly, soon after collection - in which case we compost them.
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All gifted items for third world charities are sent abroad in entirety, as and when we find volunteers who are travelling, and none are discarded.
