Smart Giving, Part Three - Furniture and Household Donations

Karen Hale is co-founder and former member of Graceful Spaces.  She still volunteers around town, and wants to share what she has learned after years in the donations collection sector of the non-profit world.

Please-

DO deliver donations at the appointed times.  Things left outside will be lost or ruined.

DO give holiday decorations close to the appropriate season.  Thrift stores are short on storage.

DO give things that are clean and in good condition otherwise they are trash, and the store has to process that too.   A note about Trash.  Please look at The Energy Resource Recovery Facility website, and it may encourage you to let go more quickly of musty old books and broken furniture and toys, etc.

At these best local picks for furniture and household donations, all your donations are ‘recycled’ as goods or funding in the immediate community.  They are short on storage/cleaning/repair services-

Graceful Spaces helps families moving out of shelters to set up their new homes.  If you have things they need, they pick up from your home. 

The Bargain Loft  accepts furniture, household and decorative items, and will take in-season nicer women’s clothes.  Please give holiday decorations seasonally. They may pick up some things, please check with the staff.

The Closet accepts small furniture, all clothing and household items. Please give holiday decorations seasonally.

I support these larger national charities because they provide jobs and are an affordable resource for budget- challenged families.   

Lupus, Amvets and Purple Heart  all circulate frequently around our neighborhoods and will pick up small household items from your front porch. You need to make arrangements by phone or online.  

Habitat for Humanity ReStore  They pick up all types of large household items to sell at their restore locations and have several drop-off locations.

Goodwill and Salvation Army . These very large operations take everything up to large TV’s, appliances and automobiles.  They will pick up at your home, or you can drop off at retail locations. Salvation Army’s Donation Values can help you assign taxable values to your stuff, no matter where you donate.

Next time, some new and different ways to recycle and deploy all kinds of stuff.