Here’s an interesting charitable organization: The Princess Alexa Foundation is a charity that gives critically ill children the opportunity to play dress-up. They stock costume closets at hospitals and ship packages of clothes and accessories to children nationwide. It’s a nice way to let very ill children play and do something a little “normal.”

I have a tendency to buy costume patterns whenever they’re cheap even if I don’t have anything particular in mind for them, and since I’ll use any excuse to play with pretty fabric, this is looking like an excellent way to use up some of my backlog.

If you don’t sew, you might consider picking up a costume or two on clearance after Halloween to donate. For non-US folks, you can check whether there’s a domestic charity which performs a similar function, or simply do it yourself: I’m willing to bet that a local children’s hospital would be thrilled with the donation of a few costume items for the kids to play with.