Salvation Army: Great Resource to Donate Furniture

My husband and I purchased a living room chair to replace one that we had for nearly five years. We wanted to create a different look in our living room and felt that a different style chair would make the room seem more spacious. So, we followed the usual methods of posting ads online and listing it in a community newspaper. We included pictures of the chair with an accurate description of the condition and desired price of the chair. We noted in the ad that the buyer would have to pick up the chair and the transaction would be cash only. Well, we waited, and waited. We received no calls so we decided to take another approach. Several years ago we had called the local Salvation Army and asked them to come to our residence to receive our furniture donations as we prepared our move for retirement. The process was efficient and speedily transacted. We felt relieved and at the same time the Salvation Army expressed gratitude for our donations that would be sold to someone who really could use our no longer needed items.

So, my thoughts once again turned to the Salvation Army. Yes, it would have been great if we had sold our chair but perhaps it was not meant to be sold by us for profit. I did not want to re-post the ad and we firmly believed that we were on the right course to call the Salvation Army. Our biggest concern was whether or not the Salvation Army would be able to do pickups because of the burgeoning fuel costs. We had just seen a local news story that detailed if the gas prices continued to increase, the Salvation Army might have to curtail or stop truck pickups for donations. So, with this concern in mind, we called our local Salvation Army and I timidly asked if they were still doing furniture pickups. I was told that they were still scheduling pickups. We then gave information regarding our donation item, detailed instructions on our address and exact location for pickup of the chair. In less than 10 minutes, the entire paperwork transaction was completed and a date set for the chair to be picked up. I was given instructions to call a day ahead of the scheduled pickup and I would be given a "window" of four hours in which the truck would arrive at our residence. This is a helpful feature because you do not have to sit around wasting nearly a full day awaiting the pick up. When the designated day arrived, I received a confirmatory call and was told the movers would be at my residence within a half hour and they were. The employees were friendly and professional and within moments my chair was out of our apartment and loaded onto the truck. We were quite pleased with the efficiency of the entire transaction.

Donations to the Salvation Army Centers help to fund the Adult Rehabilitation Centers which are designed to assist substance abusers and others facing devastating social issues to develop marketable skills. The Salvation Army promise is prominently declared as: DOING THE MOST GOOD to help the most people suffering the greatest need.

Perhaps you have items that you wish to donate rather than sell. Call the Salvation Army, make the arrangements, give the information and feel gratified that you have done a good deed to meet the need of someone you will never meet.
This is recycling at its finest! Start thinking about clearing the clutter and consider the Salvation Army as an option for receiving usable, clean or repairable furniture to be revived for a second life. Because of local laws and regulations, some items are prohibited for pick up such as doors, windows, tires and such. For more information about your local Salvation Army and the free furniture pick up service as well as other programs it provides, visit the website http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/use/www_use.nsf. or call 1-800-SA-truck (1-800-728-7825) or your local chapter of the Salvation Army.