Donating Secondhand Clothing
We give away a lot of clothing. We have to; our house would explode if we didn’t. Any item that’s on its way out to the secondhand shop gets piled onto the stepladder in our kitchen. The stepladder pile is currently three feet high and includes a winter hat, a pair of unworn shoes, pants, shorts, a tee shirt, a sweater, two pairs of sunglasses, a purse and two books. Why, we could outfit several people and have them sit out in the bright sun while they do some reading. Instead I’ll pack it all up and bring it and the other bags of clothing that have been patiently waiting in my garage to my favorite local charity.
My favorite charity is not the one that has a huge thrift store three blocks from my home. This huge thrift is a church-affiliated store. A year ago I went to their church for the funeral of a dear friend. During the service the pastor announced that we would get to see my friend again in the afterlife, but only if we believed as he told us we must.
I decided right then that I would no longer support this particular charity by giving them my used stuff. Instead I drive an extra 10 minutes to my favorite place, the one with all of the great community programs. I really love this particular organization. I have volunteered my time at their women’s shelter, food pantry and day care center. Although I don’t always have time or money to give them, I frequently have stuff that they can either use or sell to keep doing what they do so well.