Donating: The 30-Day De-Clutter Challenge

Morning Everyone!

I hope this day finds you well into the 30-Day De-Clutter Challenge! We are making slow but steady progress over here. So far this week we have:

Done a walk-though to identify the ‘clutter-clusters’.
Gone though the ‘public areas of the house and straightened what was just ‘out of place’.
Dealt with piles of paper: Mail, newspapers, magazines, etc.

Today we will: toss out expired or rarely used cleaning supplies. Getting rid of old and near-empty containers will free up space too. These areas are under sinks and in laundry rooms.

Over the weekend, we’re going to designate an area for the sorting to take place. Designate and name 3 different stacks: Donate, Toss, Sell.

The Donate pile might be the largest stack! There are so any worthy charities to donate gently used items to!

Becky at Organizing Made Fun has these suggestions of where to donate:

A. The Rescue Mission in our area always calls like once every other month to let me know they have a truck in the area. I love it because it reminds me to clean out clutter and they do all the hauling.

B. The local crisis pregnancy center.

C. Goodwill and Salvation Army both have drive thru drop offs in our town and I never have anything big so that is the easiest for me. I just keep a reusable tote in the bottom of my linen closet and toss things in it until it is full.

D. We drop off at a place in town that helps homeless teens and teens aging out of foster care. They go directly to the needy people. Not to a store front, which we love.

E. Purple heart and disabled american vets, both of these orgs give the entire amount of money they get for items to the org not the ceo, and they pick up. Just go to there websites and put your address and pickup day in.

F. A place called ECHO (Emergency Care Help Organization) which helps local families who are dealing with catastrophic events happening in their lives. I drop off to them.

G. The local Assistance League. I drop off. They help kids in the community by providing clothing and school supplies to the needy. They also have a daycare for low income parents. It’s all run by volunteers, mostly elderly, who are so appreciative and they are very careful with your stuff, unlike the big thrift stores who are not so careful. The ladies will even take things home to polish up or try to get stains out of nicer clothing. I drive a distance out of my way to go there (which reminds me…don’t forget that your mileage to and from donating is deductible also). I would always recommend the smaller thrift organizations who really do good in the community and really depend on the donations,

H. Salvation Army. They pick up and all money made goes directly to the needy and not as payment to a big CEO.

I. The thrift store that supports the local animal shelter from which we have adopted two cats over the years. In addition to being a cause close to our heart, they have the most organized thrift store I’ve ever been in which makes it pleasant to go there.

J. Salvation army….I drive up and they take the items out of my car and hand me a receipt.

K. Mel trotters. The proceeds from sales goes to help abused men & women

L. Our local food pantry has a clothing area also. Great place.

M. Purple Heart, picks up once a month.

N. Salvation Army. They come to pick up and call monthly or so to see if I have any donations for the month. Keeps me organized and neat!

O. The salvation army allows me to schedule pick-ups from my computer. There is also a store about 10 miles away that I can drop off things if I must get it out of my house RIGHT NOW (and sometimes, I feel like that!).

P.Salvation Army drop off, Second Hand Rose, drop off and Habitat for Humanity Pick up

You can see my recent donation to Purple heart below… and there’s more where that came from! If left on your drive for pick-up, make sure it’s clearly marked with the organization that is coming to pick it up.