Where to Donate Old or Used Clothes to Charity – No matter whether you are looking for ways to get rid of excess stuff or downsizing your home before moving to a new location, donating gently used clothes can be an incredible option. You can give away lightly worn clothes to people in need and give them another home.
As per a study by Princeton University in 2020, nearly 57% of discarded clothing items ended up in landfill. Clothes donations will benefit you when the tax season comes. A lot of charities will give you receipts that will enable you to deduct the value of your donation from your taxes. This guide will cover a list of charities and organizations that accept old clothes and will help you clean your closet and give back to the community and planet.
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Highlights of this Post
Key Takeaways
- One Warm Coat, United Way, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America are Major organizations accepting clothing donations to support various community needs.
- Donating clothes can provide tax benefits, as many organizations will offer receipts that allow you to deduct the value from your taxes.
- Specialized programs like Career Gear and Dress for Success focus on providing business attire to help individuals prepare for job interviews, enhancing their chances of employment.
- The American Red Cross and Amvets National Service Foundation are crucial for disaster relief and veteran support through clothing donations.
- Local options for clothing donation include thrift stores, schools, and community outreach centers, which directly benefit your immediate community.
What Are The Best Charities And Organizations That Take Clothes Donations?
One Warm Coat is a nonprofit organization that provides coats to needy people completely free. They host 5000 court drives throughout the nation in one year and have provided more than 6.6 million free coats to needy people since 1992.
The mission of the organization One Warm Coat is to provide free coats to needy adults and children and keep clothes out of landfills through their coat drive program. They have distributed around 260,000 free coats to needy people over the last year. They accept new or gently used coats.
You can find a coat drive near you during the fall or winter months or simply drop off your clothes at one of the partner nonprofit organizations of One Warm Coats. The cost of a warm coat during the winter season can put a strain on families’ budgets and if you have a gently used coat to donate then you can consider this organization.
Founded in 1887 United Way is a worldwide organization that accepts donations and puts them into stores for people to purchase at reasonable rates. All the deductions made to United Way are tax deductible. The organization accepts any type of clothes such as snow boots, swimsuits, prom dresses and winter coats.
Founded in 1904 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a nationwide organization that accepts donated clothes from people and puts the items in thrift stores to be auctioned or sold off in bulk.
The funding generated from the proceeds of the sale is used to provide supportive services to needy communities and children at large. Donations made to this organization are completely tax deductible.
The donated items that they accept may vary by location so you need to visit the official website to learn the type of clothes and other stuff that they accept. The organization provides clothes donation pickup and drop-off services.
The primary focus of the organization Planet Aid is to create a green and sustainable environment and help charities at the same time. They accept clothing donations for children, men and women.
The organization makes clothing donations, collaborates with local sports teams, assists nonprofit organizations to raise funds and educates people on the significance of safeguarding the environment. You can use the Planet Aid bin locator to donate your clothes and find a drop-off bin.
The organization does not accept clothes that are moldy or wet and dirty. Other than clothes, shoes and textiles like towels, bedding and curtains are accepted. There are 19,000 yellow drop-off bins of this organization throughout America. The organization collects donated clothing items to be sold and reused in many developing countries.
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Career Gear
One should not only be well dressed in terms of the presentation of their clothes but should also be clean and hygienic and have an attire that is well-tailored and decent. Just as Dress For Success helps out women, Career Gear helps out men with the necessary clothes and toiletries that they may require to be well-presented on their next college interview or job interview.
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The Red Cross
If you want to help victims that have been subjected to misery beyond their control, you should consider the American Red Cross. Whether it is a natural disaster, a fire, or any other type of accident, they are a great choice to donate to. You can log on to the American Red Cross Clothing Drive and check out how to donate clothes.
Since 1948 the Amvets National Service Foundation has been serving low-income United States veterans. They operate in 22 states in America with donation pickups and physical stores.
Your donation can help support the charitable efforts of the organization including job training coaches and community outreach programs.
They accept clothing and accessories, electronics, toys and games, small appliances and furniture, bicycles, bedding, TVs, exercise equipment, computers for less than five years etc. You can visit their thrift store or arrange for donation pick up. The organization focuses on supporting both honorably discharged and active-duty US veterans.
A community-based organization in the United States of America that advocates for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities and serves them including their family members is known as The Arc.
The organization provides different forms of assistance to needy people including donating time, monetary donations or free clothes. If you want to give your gently used clothes to the organization and help disabled people then you can find a local chapter with the help of the locator tool on the official website.
Savers assist local nonprofit organizations to host clothing drives. This organization pays charities and local nonprofit groups that donate useful items like clothes to the organization. The organization also pays non profit organizations for dropping off useful items like clothes at a donation center.
They accept a wide array of donations like clothing, DVDs, small household items, books etc. You can visit the official website of Savers to locate a donation center in your neighboring area.
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Donate My Dress
If you have purchased an extremely fancy dress for an event that you are not likely to wear again, You can check out the Donate My Dress website to learn the process. They accept donations of prom clothes to wear on high school prom night or the ones for your college formals.
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Society of St. Vincent De Paul
Society of St. Vincent De Paul not only runs a thrift store but also provides clothes to those who need it. Apart from providing clothes, they also engage in various other charitable activities.
They usually source their clothes from a secondary thrift store, so if you are interested, check out one of the local places near the vicinity of your home to be able to make a donation, or head over to the Society of St. Vincent De Paul website to find the nearest one.
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Goodwill
Goodwill Industries Cloth Donations is one of the most famous charitable organizations in the world. If you believe that the clothing stuff you own will be of use for goodwill, check out their website here.
Founded in 2006 Soles4Souls is a regional nonprofit organization in Tennessee. The organization takes gently used shoes and distributes them to needy people in the United States of America and other parts of the globe.
The organization helps to fight against poverty and enable people to start their businesses by selling off the donated shoes that they receive. The organizations accept gently used shoes.
The organization has different drop-off locations. Moreover, you can ship your shoes to the organization for free. They work towards a mission of collecting old unwanted footwear and clothing items to distribute to needy people in any part of the world.
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The organization accepts clothing of all sizes and types including shoes, books and accessories. They also accept appliances, furniture and household items. They accept gently used clothing, toys, household items, books, electronics, small home furnishing, sports equipment etc.
You can schedule a pick-up with the help of an interactive map or find a drop-off location. The organization runs a program named Pick Up Please through which your donated items will be picked up in less than 24 hours.
It is an international charity that provides support and assistance to more than 23 million Americans every year with its services from conducting disaster relief to operating homeless shelters and providing support for the elderly, disabled, LGBTQ community and veterans.
The organization accepts all types of clothing donations for children, men and women including furniture, accessories, items and appliances. You can make a donation at a drop-off center in your local area or schedule a pickup.
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You can bring financial opportunity to the survivors of sex trafficking in places like El Salvador, Mozambique and Uganda by throwing away your brassiere. The organization donates brassieres to needy women who have successfully escaped human trafficking and wish to get a new life.
The women get an opportunity to sell the donated clothing items in second-hand markets within their communities and all are living to support their families. The organization accepts gently used and new brasseries of all styles that are in decent condition. You need to fill out a donation form on the official website and drop off your donation at a nearby drop-off location.
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Other Places To Donate Your Old Or Used Clothes
Joining the Buy Nothing Group will enable you to connect to local people who are encouraged. They are the best resource for giving away particular items for instance cotton T-shirts, toddlers’ clothing, women’s professional clothing, T-shirts, household items, furniture etc.
An online forum called Freecycle.org enables you to post wanted items or offers. This online platform is different from that of Buy Nothing Group since you can join multiple locations and need no Facebook or other application. Some other resale apps or local trade apps include NextDoor, Bunz and OfferUp.
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Facebook Marketplace
A good way to connect with local people who need gently used clothing is the Facebook Marketplace. While some people can resell their gently used clothes at lower prices some can give away their items free of cost when a person comes to pick them up.
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Check eBay or Craigslist
Currently, there is a huge market on the internet for old clothes such as eBay or Craigslist. You can sell clothes on eBay or sell on Craigslist and turn a decent profit out of your clothes. This is much better than discarding your clothes because not only can you get rid of the stuff you no longer want if you are super savvy, and turn a nice profit as well.
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Local Church And Faith Based Organizations
The local church in your vicinity probably accepts clothing as donations. There are a lot of churches that give away clothes for free to needy families and children or to their thrift stores.You can contact local churches for instance Catholic charities to learn if they’re accepting gently used clothes and get rid of your unwanted piece of clothes.
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Thrift Stores Clothes Donations
A lot of people wonder whether or not to donate to a thrift store because they aren’t sure whether the store is actually helping anyone, or if they just sell the items they receive for profit. In either case, it allows people to purchase items at a lower cost, so is significantly helpful for many families.
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Community Outreach Centers or COC
COCs or Community outreach centers are other great avenues that allow for donating clothes and other essentials. Depending on the outreach center near you, they may even have a specific period of the year where they run a donation drive.
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Local Schools
In some cases, local public schools accept clothing donations to provide to low-income students who are in dire need. Schools have closets where students can go and pick clothing items that they need.
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Foster Care Programs
Children grow out of clothing in no time and those who are in foster care have limited belongings to start their life. This is the reason why foster care programs in the United States of America have free closets to help children and new foster parents so that they can save money and spend their resources on the development and enrichment of their new family members.
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Refugee Organizations
Refugees or immigrants leave their belongings and lives behind to escape critical situations, for instance violence in their countries.
You can contact your local refugee organization to learn if they are accepting gently used or new clothes. Refugee organizations provide a lot of assistance to immigrants or refugees like free clothing, food, medical care, shelter, care advising and legal services.
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Homeless Shelters
Some of the highly sought-after items in homeless shelters are new underwear and socks. You can give away clothing items and other resources directly to your local homeless shelter.
It is better to contact your local homeless shelter ahead of time and learn about the clothing items that they need instead of simply dumping your clothes. Menstrual care products are also a highly sought-after item in homeless shelters.
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Nursing Homes And Hospitals
Hospitals and nursing homes have free closures for low-income patients who have arrived with damaged clothing. You can contact your local nursing home or hospital and see what they may need. For hygiene purposes a lot of nursing homes and hospitals accept brand new clothing with tags.
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Sober Living Houses
People who are recovering from alcohol or drug addiction can find a supportive, safe and structured environment in sober living houses.
A lot of residents have limited resources or belongings so clothing donations can make a significant impact on their lives. Most of the time sober living homes need food, clothing, linens and furniture.
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Free Clothes Banks
Free clothing banks open their doors to low-income communities who are in desperate need. Free clothes banks provide specific types of clothing for instance professional clothing to empower women to attain self-sufficiency. For instance, Cinderella’s Closet give away prom dresses to those who were unable to purchase a new prom dress.
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Transitional Or Youth Emergency Shelters
Transitioning living centers provide safe housing for homeless youth and equip them with professional and life skills so that they can transition into adulthood. Similarly, children and teenagers can get crisis intervention and emergency housing at youth emergency shelters.
You can donate your clothing items to transitional shelters or youth emergency shelters and help those who are experiencing violence from abuse, homelessness, poverty, neglect etc.
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Animal Shelters
You can contact your local animal shelter that accepts clothing items like clean sheets, towels and blankets to keep rescued animals safe and warm. If you are an animal lover then you would definitely like your gently used clothes to help needy animals.
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Conclusion
Donating gently used clothes is a sustainable and useful practice. Ensuring your clothing items are repurposed not only lowers the amount of textile waste in landfills but also helps to decrease the use of enormous resources required to manufacture clothing: water, chemicals, energy and fabrics. Clothing donations will help you to get rid of stuff that you no longer need and will enable charities to help low-income communities who are not in a position to buy new clothes. To make things easier we have compiled a list of charities and other resources above that accept clothing donations from people. So start organizing, schedule a pickup date and give a new life to your old clothing items.
Do you know about Charities that help people in need? Learn more at Get Government Grants’ blog section today. Reading our guide will help you to learn how you can give a new purpose to your old unwanted items and donate them to a good cause.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I donate my unused clothes to needy families?
You can donate your unused, used or even old clothes to low income families through charities such as Salvation Army, Goodwill, local churches, community centers and more.
What are the benefits of donating my used clothes to needy families?
Every donation gives you benefits of tax redemption, when you donate your old clothes to charities you get a receipt for each donation, moreover the benefit you get is a smile on someone’s face .
What to consider when donating clothes to charity?
When donating clothes to charity, it is important to consider the following: whether the clothing is still in good condition, how many items are in the clothing, who will be using the clothes, and how much money you think the clothes will cost.
