When Laura Gernell heard about a place where people gave away perfectly good things to strangers — no money changing hands, no questions asked — she figured it was too good to be true.

But her husband, Ronald, had lost his job as a truck driver and she was temporarily unemployed, at home in a rented, unfurnished apartment with her infant son. With nothing to lose, she joined the Freecycle Network, a Web-based community swap program, and asked whether anyone had a sofa to spare.

Click Here to Read More about West Virginia’s Freecycle Groups