what is the best place to donate stuff to??

ut0pia

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I am doing some cleaning up, getting new furniture, painting and getting everything in order while I have 2 weeks free..So I found out that I have a lot of clothes and handbags and shoes that I need to donate..I have about 30 shirts and like 10 pairs of pants, 10-15 handbags, and a bunch of stuffed animal toys that I received as gifts that I think are just taking too much space and collecting dust. So I want to donate all of that stuff but I don't want to donate to the salvation army because they sell it, I want to donate it to a place that gives it away to people for free... Does anyone have any idea how to figure out where to take all of that stuff?? Maybe a local church, do you guys know if churches take stuff like that??
 

natalie_ca

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I like to donate things to a shelter for abused women. These women are leaving a relationship with absolutely nothing but the clothes on their back most times. And they have to start over from scratch where clothing and furniture etc are concerned. Things like gently used handbags, shoes, clothing, furniture, linens and dishes would be very welcome
 

darkmavis

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I agree, a women's shelter is a great idea, also a homeless shelter would be good. Don't forget most thrift stores use profits from that they sell (what you donate) to help others, so also maybe look into a charity that you like who has a store where they use most or all of the profits for the charity and not for operating costs. If you're not sure, look in the phone book or online and call some places to see what their policies are.
 

mrblanche

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You might check to see if there is a local Seventh-day Adventist Welfare Services group in your area. They operate clothing centers and usually give the clothing away to those involved in disasters, from a local fire to a hurricane. It used to be called the Dorcas Society, and some of you may know it by that name.

Call your local Seventh-day Adventist church to find them.
 

jillian

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I like the idea of taking the stuff to a women's shelter. Freecycle might be a good idea as well.
 

momofmany

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I actually donate my things to either Salvation Army or Goodwill. Even though they resell it, they are non-profit so they use the money to pay their employees and the rest goes out to the community.

There are also some humane societies that have thrift shops. The money from the items they sell pay for spays/neuters, and vet care for sick animals. I used to volunteer my time at one of those stores, and helped them with their books, so know the money went to the animals.
 

libby74

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I donate a lot of stuff to ourlocal Salvation Army store. We also have 2 local freecycle groups, and I give away quite a bit thru those.
 

tierre0

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I donate my used clothing and household items that are still usable most often to the Salvation Army mainly because it is located just down the street from my home. They are also great about picking up donations so you don't have to figure out how to get them there. I also do some donations to the local food bank called Harvest Share which is sponsored by Social Services.
 

butzie

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I donate to the Salvation Army and Goodwill, too. Even though they resell it, there are some people who depend on what they have for their families. Also, they use the money to give it back to others.

My thought is to give it to the Red Cross if they are accepting donations for what you have. It is still tornado season and now hurricane season and it is always fire season.
 

binkyhoo

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For many years I bought from salvation army.
Not just clothes but used furniture and such. They were good to me.
 

wellingtoncats

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I do not donate to the salvation army anymore because I think they charge high prices for their clothes. You can buy a top new in NZ for $10 but sometimes they charge $15 for a used top. Instead I donate to a facility where all their money goes towards children cancer research.
 

missmeowmy

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I like to donate things to a shelter for abused women. These women are leaving a relationship with absolutely nothing but the clothes on their back most times. And they have to start over from scratch where clothing and furniture etc are concerned. Things like gently used handbags, shoes, clothing, furniture, linens and dishes would be very welcome
I'd never thought about that before...I always donated to the Salvation Army or Goodwill because they employ people with special needs and sell items for very cheap prices.

Where can I find a place like this locally?
 
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ut0pia

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Thanks for all those suggestions! I did a search on homeless shelters around here and I contacted one and they are supposed to call me back and let me know when they can actually come and pick up the things. If I don't hear from them I will probably just drive over there or try to contact the Seventh-day Adventist Welfare Services group.


Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

I do not donate to the salvation army anymore because I think they charge high prices for their clothes. You can buy a top new in NZ for $10 but sometimes they charge $15 for a used top. Instead I donate to a facility where all their money goes towards children cancer research.
This is exactly why I prefer not to donate to the salvation army. They charge a lot of $ for the clothes and I feel like they are such a huge organization that so much goes into salaries and such which I feel creates an unnecessary hassle and makes it harder for those in need to get things. Just imagine if all of those things they sell in their huge wal mart sized stores was going directly to people in need for free....that's the way it should be IMO. Lol besides I can't help but imagine all those people who would pay that much money for my used clothes if I donated to the salvation army and I feel sorry for them to be paying such a high price!! It makes me feel guilty for being an accomplice to getting people ripped off haha
 

mrblanche

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I have to admit some of the best clothes I had growing up I got from the Seventh-day Adventist Welfare Services, then known as the Dorcas Society. My mom, who was on welfare but was also an SDA, volunteered there, and we often got clothing there. In fact, it made my life significantly better.

When my wife's folks house burned down, they got a couple of nights in a motel and a voucher for couple hundred bucks at Sears from the Red Cross. They got virtually all their clothing replaced, furniture, and food from the SAWS.

SAWS, or its international version ADRA, also operates a number of disaster relief trucks and goes to all the hurricanes, etc. We had a friend who was the UN representative of ADRA and spent a lot of time in Croatia and Bosnia, delivering humanitarian aid there, during the wars.
 

cdubbie

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If you have professional clothes to rid of...I like Dress for Success. It is a wardrobe charity to dress women getting their life together (from abuse, job training off poverty,etc) who are job interviewing but do not have proper clothes. They especially need plus size clothing.
 
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