So you’ve cleared out your closet of the old and ready to make room for the new. The question now is where to drop off the items you no longer need. Many people take their donations to companies like Red Cross or Goodwill while others take their directly to local homeless shelters.
Giving them to a place like Goodwill is a plan many use. These companies take the donations and sell them back to consumers at a major reduced price. This gives families who can’t afford new clothes a way to provide for their family. Goodwill then takes the profits and gives a portion of it to other charities. They serve the community and those struggling to make ends meet. Certain people argue against their effectiveness and reports from some employees state the clothes that aren’t sold in a while are shredded instead of given away. Some clothes aren’t even put out on the floor if they aren’t in near perfect appearance. Red Cross only gives about 50 percent of their profits to charities. The majority of Americans will still donate to these companies, though, because of their accessibility.
Giving to a homeless shelter is better for some people because they know their clothes are going to actual people and not being sold and discarded. Finding a shelter requires a little investigating, which dissuades those individuals who don’t have the time to look. Shelters have suffered recently with lack of donations and put out pleas on their websites and in local media. With the loss of jobs, the homelessness rate has risen and the demand for more clothes to supply the needy is crucial. There is the security in knowing that all clothes donated will be used, no matter how old they may be.
No matter how donations are made, it’s still a better option than throwing the old items in the dumpster.