Marisa Wheatley:  Inventive, creative, type A, introvert, enjoys running, hiking, singing, cooking and generally being crafty.

Sometimes cards arrive in our box anonymously with no return address, sometimes envelopes arrive stuffed full of cards collected at an event or party, other times they arrive with a note of encouragement or a story about a cause that the donor wants us to give back to.

Recently, an envelope arrived with a note that said this: “Hi there, My car was stolen a year ago and was just recovered this week. When I looked through the glove box, the previous “owners” left these inside. Here’s to hoping some good can come out of this bad experience! Keep up the good work!” The envelope also had 3 cards with balances that totaled about $25.

Many of us keep a jar around in which we dump our spare change. Banks have even recently caught on to this idea and have begun offering clients the opportunity to round all their purchases up to the nearest dollar, depositing that extra change into a savings account. The old adage is to “save it for a rainy day.” Save it for a day when things are dreary and times may be tough.

This letter and that concept of saving our spare change “for a rainy day” truly exemplifies the way we hope to consider remaining balances on gift cards: as potential. Potential to do something good for someone whose having a “rainy day.”

Today here in Atlanta it’s rainy and so I’m thinking about what I want to spend my rainy day money on. Nothing seems better than spending it to help someone else.

I think I’ll go pack some gift cards up to mail out to people in need.