I often hear complaints from my clients about donating their stuff to Goodwill because the CEO makes millions of dollars off free stuff. I am always asked where to take items to be donated other than Goodwill. It is my goal to make sure that things leaving my clients homes go to an approved charity of their choice and very rarely, do I take things to Goodwill. In case you are wondering, here are my top 5 go to places.
1. Habitat For Humanity Restore
Habitat is my #1 go to for taking donations. We often think of Habitat Restore as the go to place for hardware, furniture, tools, fixtures, etc. I recently discovered that Habitat takes everything Goodwill takes such as toys, household items, clothing and more. They will even take some household chemicals like paint, primer, caulking paste and more. As long as there is liquid in the cans, they will take it. Habitat also picks up small appliances and furniture at your home or business for $20.00.
You can schedule a pick up directly on their website. https://pdxrestore.org/
2. Vietnam Veterans Association(VVA)
I absolutely love this organization for several reasons. First of all, because the organization supports Veterans. All donations received, whether it be cash donations, cars or household items, the money received goes to support Veterans healthcare needs. Second, I love using this service because they will pick up donations directly from your home. All you have to do is schedule the pick up online through https://pickupplease.org/. The only things they cant take are large furniture items and appliances. Keep in mind that once you schedule a pick up, they wont come to pick up your donations for 48 hours so it is best to keep things undercover out of the rain. VVA and Pickup Please is very convenient because it saves you the time of having to take your things directly to a local donation place.
3. The ARC
The ARC is another great organization to donate your items to. There mission is to provide advocacy, support and services to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. They will also pick up donations from you home but don’t take furniture or appliances. If you want take your donations directly to them, they have several locations in the Portland Metro area. You can find those locations here….http://schedulingarcmult.org/content/collectionlocations.
Or you can schedule a pick up here http://schedulingarcmult.org/
4. Free Geek
Free Geek is my favorite place for recycling electronics. They take everything from hardrives, laptops, phones, remote controls, and every kind of cord you can imagine. They even take those big bulky tube tv’s that are hard to get rid of. If you have a bunch of electronics lying around that no longer work, Free Geek is the place to go. If you donate old laptops or computers, they will wipe everything clean and destroy the hardrive. They also give you a certificate of data destruction for a small fee.
What I love about this organization is that they make an effort to recycle every single piece from items donated to keep things out of the landfill. They also have amazing volunteer program where you can earn a free computer after donating 24 hours of your time. For more information about this amazing organization check out their website here https://www.freegeek.org/ways-give/donate-technology
5. Dress For Success
I often work with high end clients who hire me to help them get their closets in order. This results in lots of higher end clothes from Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy’s being purged and donated. When I get these kinds of donations, I like to give them to Dress For Success. Unfortunately, There is only one location in the whole state of Oregon and they only accept donations 2 times a month, making it more difficult to donate to them. Dress for Success take all business type attire and shoes for women. Clothing must be freshly laundered and on hangers and can’t be more than 5 years old.
While it is a great place to donate to, it can be rather inconvenient due to lack of locations, times they accept donations and strict requirements for clothes they accept. For general clothing donations, I suggest Habitat, VVA or local homeless shelters and clothing closets.
All of the above organizations with the exception of Free Geek have national donation centers. You can do a quick google search to find the closest one in your area. If you have something specific to donate and are looking for a place that takes that item, go to PDX Metro https://www.oregonmetro.gov/tools-living/garbage-and-recycling/find-a-recycler.
