Donate Your Excess Belongings to Charitable Organizations

You have just completed your spring cleaning. You have scrubbed the walls and windows, steamed the carpet and emptied out the closets. And in the process you have uncovered mounds of things you haven't seen, some in decades. Since you haven't seen it in years, chances are you no longer need it. So, what can you do with it? You could sell it, you could throw it away, or you could give it away. But not to just anyone. There are plenty of charities and non-profit organizations that will take a good portion of that pile off your hands and donating to well-deserving organizations will give you a sense of pride and humanity.

Let's start with the clothes. Start by sorting them in two piles; the first pile of clothes to be thrown out or turned into rags, clothes that are torn, worn out, and or stained, and the second pile of everything else. Then sort the "keep" pile into three more piles: men's, women's and children's. The men's clothes can be donated to the Salvation Army or Good Will (so can the women's and children's but I have a much less obvious suggestion for what to do with those clothes).

Contact your local battered women's shelter. These are places set up by various organizations, including but not limited to hospitals, churches and the county government, as safe havens for victims of domestic violence. More often than not those seeking shelter in these places have left their homes more concerned with being away from their bad situation than with packing a change of clothes. Because of this, many of these shelters warmly welcome donations of clothing and shoes, some take limited donations of other things like toys and bedding (blankets, pillows, sleeping bags). Offering the women and children who come into the shelter a fresh, clean change of clothes will help to make them a little more comfortable in their temporary surroundings.

When donating clothes to the women's shelter, remember to include clean, neat bras and underwear. This is something people often overlook, both when donating clothes and when packing in a hurry to escape their circumstances. As long as they are clean and have minimal signs of wear (no holes, minimal fray, the elastic still in tact) these are great things to donate to victims of domestic violence.

If, in your cleaning, you have uncovered luggage of any kind; suitcases, duffle bags, backpacks, no matter how much or what size, place a call to the local child protective services or foster care system. In many cases, children who are shifted between families within the foster care system, travel with their belongings in garbage bags. Not only is luggage more convenient, it offers them a sense of pride because what, besides garbage, belongs in a garbage bag? Because of this, many foster care systems have in place a program called Suitcases for Kids. When a new child enters the system, they are given a suitcase or bag from the donated collection to carry their possessions from home to home without enlisting the aid of Hefty.

Any other household items you have uncovered can be donated to stores which have dedicated all or part of their profits to a non-profit organization. In my community we have stores that give money from their sales to Habitat for Humanity and to the Hospice program (a program which runs solely on charity donations and offers in home medical care to terminally ill patients). And if you have a Habitat for Humanity chapter in your area, tools that are in good working condition can be donated for use by volunteers (the professionals come equipped with their own tools).

A yard sale or garage sale is a good way to make money off the junk you have cleaned out of the bottom of the hall closet, but let's face it, the money is just going to go to buy more junk to stuff in the bottom of the closet. Not to mention, next spring you will see your old junk in your neighbor's yard sale. Why not donate your old junk to someone who could really use it and benefit from it? It will help make someone else's life a little more comfortable and will make you feel good for helping them.

You have just completed your spring cleaning. You have scrubbed the walls and windows, steamed the carpet and emptied out the closets. And in the process you have uncovered mounds of things you haven't seen, some in decades. Since you haven't seen it in years, chances are you no longer need it. So, what can you do with it? You could sell it, you could throw it away, or you could give it away. But not to just anyone. There are plenty of charities and non-profit organizations that will take a good portion of that pile off your hands and donating to well-deserving organizations will give you a sense of pride and humanity.

Let's start with the clothes. Start by sorting them in two piles; the first pile of clothes to be thrown out or turned into rags, clothes that are torn, worn out, and or stained, and the second pile of everything else. Then sort the "keep" pile into three more piles: men's, women's and children's. The men's clothes can be donated to the Salvation Army or Good Will (so can the women's and children's but I have a much less obvious suggestion for what to do with those clothes).

Contact your local battered women's shelter. These are places set up by various organizations, including but not limited to hospitals, churches and the county government, as safe havens for victims of domestic violence. More often than not those seeking shelter in these places have left their homes more concerned with being away from their bad situation than with packing a change of clothes. Because of this, many of these shelters warmly welcome donations of clothing and shoes, some take limited donations of other things like toys and bedding (blankets, pillows, sleeping bags). Offering the women and children who come into the shelter a fresh, clean change of clothes will help to make them a little more comfortable in their temporary surroundings.

When donating clothes to the women's shelter, remember to include clean, neat bras and underwear. This is something people often overlook, both when donating clothes and when packing in a hurry to escape their circumstances. As long as they are clean and have minimal signs of wear (no holes, minimal fray, the elastic still in tact) these are great things to donate to victims of domestic violence.

If, in your cleaning, you have uncovered luggage of any kind; suitcases, duffle bags, backpacks, no matter how much or what size, place a call to the local child protective services or foster care system. In many cases, children who are shifted between families within the foster care system, travel with their belongings in garbage bags. Not only is luggage more convenient, it offers them a sense of pride because what, besides garbage, belongs in a garbage bag? Because of this, many foster care systems have in place a program called Suitcases for Kids. When a new child enters the system, they are given a suitcase or bag from the donated collection to carry their possessions from home to home without enlisting the aid of Hefty.

Any other household items you have uncovered can be donated to stores which have dedicated all or part of their profits to a non-profit organization. In my community we have stores that give money from their sales to Habitat for Humanity, Women Build and to the Hospice program (a program which runs solely on charity donations and offers in-home medical care to terminally ill patients). And if you have a Habitat for Humanity or Women Build chapter in your area, tools that are in good working condition can be donated for use by volunteers (the professionals come equipped with their own tools).

A yard sale or garage sale is a good way to make money off the junk you have cleaned out of the bottom of the hall closet, but let's face it, the money is just going to go to buy more junk to stuff in the bottom of the closet. Not to mention, next spring you will see your old junk in your neighbor's yard sale. Why not donate your old junk to someone who could really use it and benefit from it? It will help make someone else's life a little more comfortable and will make you feel good for helping them.