It’s Blog Action Day and poverty is this year’s theme. The idea is that bloggers around the world will help effect change by writing about a single social issue and raising awareness.One of my pet peeves is when people have perfectly good stuff they throw away instead of donating it to someone in need. It really bothers me to walk through affluent neighbourhoods and see perfectly good furniture left on people’s lawns. I mean c’mon, there’s always Goodwill and plenty of other options.
This morning while getting ready for work, I had BT on and learned about The Furniture Bank. What an amazing concept! If you have some furniture or other basic household items you no longer need, you can arrange to have it picked up from your home – for a fee – and taken to The Furniture Bank. Check the list of exemptions.
At The Furniture Bank, with the assistance of knowledgeable staff, clients (homeless individuals and families who are in need and referred by their caseworkers) can select items they need for their new small apartments. Volunteers and financial donations are also needed.
Do you know of any other places where you can donate gently used clothing, furniture or other household items to help people in your community who are in need?
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Arg. I suck at commenting on blogger.
ReplyDeleteHey Guin, thanks for stopping by. Please try leaving your comment again. I know you had something interesting to share. I'm moving to WP one of these days, promise. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe furniture Bank is a wonderful organization. Salvation Army stores and Goodwill are the best places in my opinion to donate your used furniture\clothing as they sell it and all the profits go into funding their social service and training programs.
ReplyDeleteDo not ever give to the charity that calls you and says "we'll be in your neighbourhood" tomorrow so could you leave a bag at the curb." What that charity does is sell the donations to VALUE VILLAGE which is a for profit business that does not publicize this and it is unethical in my opinion but they have done a great job on convenience when it come to pick up's. This has drastically cut into the decrease in donations to the Salavation army and Good will.
Support the Salvation Army especially this year due to the fire in the warehouse, they lost millions of dollars worth of product they can't use. No Christmas Gifts either!!
If anyone has any questions about this...happy to help.
Jody, Thanks for your comment and providing all that information for everyone.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I don't have a problem with legit charities collecting clothes etc. from people's homes and selling them to Value Village.
Those charities know exactly what they are doing and I'm sure they'd share the info. with donors if asked. As long as they are transparent about what they are doing with the clothing, I think that's fine.