Looking for the best place to donate clothes? Keep reading to discover several great options for places to donate clothes that don’t resell.
From local organizations to unwanted items of clothing, find out how to find a new home for your unwanted clothing.
There are many people out there who are looking for the basic necessities of clothing so giving unwanted shoes, a warm coat or two, and professional clothing to a worthy cause is a great idea.
Hate cleaning but love a clean house? Pick up this printable Spring Cleaning Bundle and you'll be able to clean it all without feeling overwhelmed!
This post was sponsored by Burlington Stores but the opinions and text are 100% mine.
The Best Places to Donate Clothes (That Don’t Resell)
When we were preparing for our big move from Indiana to Texas, I wanted to go through every closet, every box, and everything we own and declutter our lives, downsize, and get rid of as much as possible.
Not only would it make it easier to move, but easier to live.
Among the many possessions, we purged were clothes.
I got rid of lots of my old high school and college T-shirts, even though I love a good T-shirt, so this was a very big deal for me.
I also got rid of pants, skirts, dresses, and coats and jackets.
I did the same for my husband’s clothes.
However, knowing where to donate clothing, or what to do with all our old clothing, was something I didn’t think too much about before. I would simply take them to the best place to drop off old clothes – Goodwill – and not think twice about it.
However, after reading various articles about what happens to clothes donated to Goodwill like this one from the Huffington Post, and thinking about how I’d rather have my clothes go to someone who may need them, free of charge, so they won’t just end up in the landfills, made me think twice about this choice.
If you are like me and would rather find places to donate clothes that don’t resell them, I found some of the best places to donate clothes you longer need or use.
Best Places to Donate Clothes
An added benefit of giving clothes to somewhere other than Goodwill is you have to plan it more, which, in my opinion, opens it up to inviting others to join in much easier!
Putting together various charity drives, like a clothing drive, is one of many different family service ideas you can do in your home, but also easily opened up to your neighborhoods, church communities, homeschool groups, school groups, and more.
Donate Your Old Clothes to a Women’s Shelter
One of my favorite places to give clothes away to is a women’s shelter.
Often the women at these shelters flee from dangerous situations in a hurry and have nothing but the clothes on their back. Many of them also have young children with them who also need clothing (among other things).
Women at my church once held a dress drive, gathering more than 100 dresses which we donated to a local women and children shelter, which they greatly appreciated!
If you are unsure if there is one in your area, use Google or ask around in Facebook community groups.
Donate Clothing to Crisis Centers and Homeless Shelters
There are also likely many other crisis shelters in your area that serve individuals who are homeless, pregnant teens, new moms, victims of domestic violence, or disabled.
There are also adult rehabilitation centers as well that are looking for clothing for young women, low-income women and men, and adults.
Make sure to call ahead of time and ask what their specific needs are for clothing, asking what type, size, or gender of clothing they have the most need for right now.
For example, my local homeschool co-op is currently doing a men’s sock drive for the Angel House Soup Kitchen run by Austin Baptist Chapel because that is one of their biggest needs in terms of clothing.
New socks are preferred here, but some shelters are likely to take higher-quality used clothing items as well.
Again, just be sure to call and only fill the needs they have. They all have limited storage.
I know we made sure to include men’s socks when we previously put together blessing bags for the homeless in our homeschool co-op.
Give Away Clothes to Disaster Relief Organizations
During times of crisis and natural disasters, the American Red Cross (and other local and national organizations) is often in need of clothing for those who were hit by the crisis.
Think about recent hurricanes (like Hurricane Harvey) and wildfires that have ravaged our country and you will find sometimes thousands of people who have lost clothes and stand in need of entire new wardrobes!
It is a wonderful idea to donate clothes to fire victims and to donate clothes to Hurricane Harvey (and other hurricane) survivors.
Many communities work together to gather clothing donations during these times of crisis thanks to the American Red Cross or other similar organizations which accept clothing donations.
But, be sure to only send clothes WHEN they are requested! Too often too many clothing donations are sent during large disasters and end up piling up and going to waste.
Managing clothing donations is often a huge and time-consuming task, so if you are sending clothing to a disaster relief, PLEASE only send quality, non-moldy, non-mildewy, non-smoke-smelling, clean clothes that are labeled and organized as much as possible beforehand.
You will save volunteers so much time!
Also know that clothing donations to the American Red Cross charity clothing drop boxes in Eastern Missouri, as well as through their GreenDrop goods and clothing donation drop-off centers, do sell their donations to area thrift stores and gives a portion of the proceeds to support the Red Cross mission.
Give Old Clothes to Local Churches
Some churches work hand in hand with different group of people who need some hand-me-downs and hand-outs.
Some even work with foreign missions and overseas areas who have a greater need than perhaps your local community does for donated clothing.
Again, ask around in local community forums and groups for churches that are doing clothing drives or otherwise looking for donations and see how you can get involved.
Tips For Donating Clothing
Make sure that anything that you’re donating to charitable organizations is in good condition. You may want to donate more items than household items or household goods, but that is something that you should call and ask prior to just assuming.
Most need professional attire for a job interview so they may not have room for large items at their non-profit organization or location.
You may also be able to schedule a home pickup at times for clothing items as many places will do that for unwanted clothing. There are many different ways that you can help local charities with donation boxes full of clothing.
Donate Clothes to Coat Drives
Every year Burlington Stores run a Warm Coats, Warm Hearts Coat Drive. Their current one runs until January 21, 2019.
Donated coats stay locally within each store and are given to those most in need.
Click here to find a store near you.
Even those in the South have a need for warmth. It does get below freezing here, especially at night.
For every coat donated, you also receive a 10% off your entire purchase at Burlington coupon.
If you donate a coat, share your story on Twitter or on Instagram with the hashtag #CoatNotes and your story could be featured on ABC’s Good Morning America.
It’s a great way to give back and to reward yourself at the same time. Also, connect with Burlington on Facebook.
Even though we had already donated many of our coats since moving to Texas, my daughters had some jackets that they have outgrown, and which have been replaced recently.
I decided we could look to donating them at Burlington, and I got my twin girls involved in the process.
Many schools also run annual coat drives or clothing drives throughout the school year, but in particular around the holiday season.
Donate Clothes via Freecycle
If you’d like to donate clothing to individuals, you can also list free clothing items on a website called Freecyle.org, or list your clothing items in the free section on Craigslist or on the Facebook Marketplace.
Any of these are great places where to donate clothing to individuals, hopefully, who really need it (and won’t resell them).
When Donating Clothes, Give Worthy Clothes
People who are disadvantaged, poor, or homeless are in need often of clothing, but I ask that before you donate clothes, you read this article from We are THAT Family called “Dear World: Let’s Stop Giving Our Crap to the Poor.”
After reading it, she convinced me that we shouldn’t be digging up the bottom of the barrel when it comes to clothing donations.
People still have pride.
And stains are never attractive, no matter who you are or where you live.
We should think more about the quality of the clothing we are giving, perhaps more than the quantity.
Look carefully at the clothes you are considering donating.
If they are beyond repair, and junky, don’t donate them, please just throw them away (or otherwise recycle your old clothing).
Please wash them ahead of time, or fix any minor damage you can.
All people want nice things, even those less fortunate.
Where do you donate clothing when you are decluttering?
Burlington Stores sponsored this blog post. The opinions and text are all mine.