The giving spirit is alive and well in everybody during the holidays, but what about the other 11 months of the year? Helping families in need is a year-long project for organizations that accept clothing donations, and you should be mindful of the less fortunate even after you pack away the Christmas tree.
The best charity organizations will extend their efforts far beyond the holidays, which means you can help a deserving family not only enjoy their Christmas, but live a normal life. Also, donating outside of the holidays has become much easier ever since pickup services were introduced. Your charitable donations mean everything to these families, and providing them with gently-used clothing is the easiest way to help them build a better future.
- People in your community need help all the time. Helping families in need is important during the holidays for obvious reasons, but these same families need support all throughout the year. Once holiday donations run dry, many of these families go back to the same life as before. According to CNN, identify fraud claims a new victim every 42 seconds, and you never know who needs help. The people who receive your donations could be your very own neighbor, and there’s no better feeling than committing a random act of kindness for someone in your community.
- Pick out clothes to donate each season. Considering how often fashion trends change throughout the course of the year, it’s no wonder that Americans are so wasteful with their clothing. Approximately 12 million tons of textile waste is thrown out in the U.S. each year. While about 2 million tons of clothing was recycled in 2011, this still pales in comparison to the amount that we wastefully discard. When you’ve outgrown clothing, simply donate it instead of throwing it away and help the environment while you help a deserving family.
- Take advantage of donation pickup. 2015 has been the year of convenience, and helping families in need is now easier than ever. These days, the best charitable organizations offer donation pickup services. All you have to do is gather up your donations and schedule an appointment with your local charity. Someone will come pick them up free of charge, and you can smile knowing that you helped an entire family without moving a muscle.
Millions of families depend on the generosity of people just like you to regain a sense of normalcy in their lives, and this is true for all months of the year. If you’ve already made your holiday donations, make sure to keep an eye on your closet and donate anything else you may not need as the year goes on.
