The United States has a pressing homelessness problem. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are a little less than 600,000 homeless people in any given night across the country. Nearly a quarter of them are children. For these men, women, and children, daily life is an emergence struggle. For a variety of reasons — some personal, some institutional — these people are incapable of helping themselves. Without assistance, they would simply have nowhere to go and no one to turn to.
That is why donating clothes is so important in our society. Charitable clothing donations truly go a long way for millions of people — the homeless and the poor alike. Even people with homes to go to sometimes don’t have much else. Donated clothes help those people get by. Even a donation as quaint as a pair of socks or gloves can significantly help the less fortunate.
Places to donate clothes accomplish more than just helping the poor. It helps the environment. Far too much fabric needlessly goes to waste. Of the billions of pounds of household fabrics thrown away and transported to landfills every year, 90% of it is perfectly recyclable. It is estimated that nearly 5% of the total waste found in American landfills and, unfortunately, that percentage isn’t going down in any significant way. By donating lightly used clothing, people can help the homeless and help the environment at the same time.
There are over 1.5 million tax-exempt charity organizations in the U.S. They all do excellent work for a variety of causes. Organizations that focus on collecting used clothing provide an invaluable service for both the poor and the planet they live on. Some organizations are so dedicated that they’ll even pick up clothing right from your doorstep! There are plenty of places to donate clothes to. To find out more about these places, feel free to leave a comment or question at the bottom.
