Charitable Organizations

Does anyone know of a nice charity where I can donate alot of clothes (it no longer fits, kids are now grown up, all the items are in good condition- in fact some of the clothes still have the original labels; my kids never wore them!)) ANDDDD I'm also looking to donate some good furniture (which I tried selling on Ebay but "no bites"). Both the clothing and furniture are good-to-excellent condition.

I tried calling The Veterans (UWVC.org), but their first earliest pickup is October 30th!...and, they wont pick up any furniture that requires more than 1 person carrying it

I don't understand some of these organizations. You try to donate "nice, good stuff" and these places don't want it; yet I see them advertise all the time to "please make donations"!...it must be me

Does anyone have any suggestions as what organizations would easily and gladly take them ?


Try SAGE in Summit - Which benefits programs and meals on wheels and day care for seniors - but right now the pandemic seems to be affecting all charities that operate resale shops as far as what they can accept, when and how their pickups work. 


Furniture is usually tough to place. You could try Salvation Army--they will pick up but will not take anything that isn't in good/excellent condition. I am not sure how their operations have been affected by covid, but even in the best of times, it's a long wait.

The clothing could go to Goodwill. Their donation center on Morris Tpke, next to Dunkin Donuts/down street from Wine Library is accepting donations again. They are open most days until 6. Not sure holiday weekend schedule.


I recently downsized from a large house and found various places.  F\

First, the Goodwill above, is very good.  I used them a lot.  They provide tax receipts for you to fill out.

 A good bet for clothing, furniture, etc., is Morristown Mission, Market Street in Morristown.  They take clothing and furniture, but check in advance given the pandemic for their hours, etc.  I didn't try to take them anything other than lots of men's clothing and some smaller items.  I am not sure how they handle larger pieces of furniture, if they still do now.

Another option is I just gave away furniture using Facebook,  MOL also has this option. The largest item was a sofa where someone with a pickup truck and two movers picked it up that day.  (I never asked for any money, even if the items was worth something, because my main objective was to get the furniture out.)  I got rid of that sofa, ladders, a wing chair, two chairs, two side tables. 


for furniture, look up furnitureassist out of kenilworth.   salvation army might, goodwill said no furniture.


I have read that people stuck at home are cleaning out closets and getting rid of furniture at an unprecedented pace. Charitable organizations are overwhelmed with high-quality donations yet they have limited options for opening their stores to unload the donations. 

Even before the virus, there was limited interest in furniture. "Young people these days" don't want their parents' big heavy living/dining room sets.

I have had good luck with https://www.facebook.com/groups/SwapMeet.SOMaEssex County Freecycle, and craigslist. SwapMeet SOMa is the easiest but (in my experience) has the highest rate of no-shows and people who arrive unequipped to pick up their items.


They accept donations here:

Market Street Mission Thrift Store
25 George St.
Morristown, NJ 07960

https://www.marketstreet.org/thrift-store/

Things We Accept:
Clothing
Furniture
Dishes
Linens
Autos
Recreational Vehicles
Collectibles
Antiques
Tools
Sporting Goods

Schedule a pick up (not actually sure they will come to Maplewood but it's worth a try):

https://clienthub.getjobber.com/client_hubs/3ac7867c-fbff-47da-91c4-120ff0ba2876/public/work_request/new


VAA they come and pickup


We have found Green Drop on Meisel just at Rt 22 to be super easy. Just drive up they take stuff out of your trunk. We have now made maybe 10 trips. They then sell stuff at the 2nd Ave store on Liberty/Morris Trp to benefit three charities they are linked to.


No matter what charity it is, it's always a good idea to look it up on one of the charity vetting/rating web sites (and also on BBB sites).  Unfortunately, many charities are inefficient at best (sometime paying top executives huge salaries) and of questionable legitimacy at worst.  


Habitat for Humanity picked up a big piece of furniture for me. Usually contact Vietnam Vets for clothes and smaller items but last I checked, they were not picking up now.



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