Your Clothing Donations Make a Real Difference

American Red Cross clothing donations make an enormous difference when it comes to raising money for those in need. The American Red Cross is always ready, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They have been providing relief for families and communities by the way of blankets, food, and shelter for decades and need the generous donations of the public in order to continue their mission.

The other way in which the Red Cross provides relief to those in need is through blood drives. You have likely seen and possibly even participated in blood drives in your community, maybe at work or at a community event. Without blood drives like the ones held by the American Red Cross, people would literally die in much greater numbers. Blood donation saves lives and if you want to give to a charity but don\’t think you have anything to spare, consider giving your blood at a local American Red Cross blood drive. You will literally be saving a life.

As ranked by private donations, the American Red Cross is the 13th largest charity in the United States. It received $687 million in 2014 alone in private donations. Many of these donations were monetary, but many of them came in the form of donated clothing. American Red Cross clothing donations raise money for the charity by being sold in used clothing stores or by being repurposed by using the fabric for other things and then being sold.

Many people do not realize just how many clothes they have in their closets or in the basement or attics of their home. Americans consume roughly 20 billion garments per years. That boils done to about 68 garments and seven pairs of shoes per every person in America. Another way to look at it would be to say that it comes out to every American buying one piece of clothing every week. That is an enormous amount of clothing and shoes.

American Red Cross clothing donations of unwanted and even unwearable clothing can be put to a much better use than simply taking up space in your closet. If you would like to donate clothes, the best thing to do is to start in your home by going through your closets, attics, and basements. Be honest with yourself about what you really need or want and what you know you are never going to wear again. Your old clothes and shoes are not doing anyone any good in the back of your bedroom closet. They will, however, make a huge difference to many families in need of clothing, food, and shelter.

When you donate clothing, you are supplying one of the greatest charities in the world with the tools it needs to make the lives of people in need so much better. American Red Cross clothing donations are some of the easiest donations we can make. We as Americans have so many extra clothes that we just do not know what to do with. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, we throw away roughly 10 pounds of clothing every single year.

This is obviously something that can be changed and changed very easily. When you take the time to look through your used clothing and decide what you can part with, you can gather the clothing together, call the American Red Cross clothing donations center and they will come to you to pick up what you are donating. You can also receive a receipt for the value of your clothing so that you can write off the value for a tax donation.

In America today, more people are giving more to charitable causes. Almost three-quarters of Americans give to some kind of charity every year. If you would like to give to a charity and make a real significant difference in someone else\’s life but do not think you have the kind of money to do that, take a look in your closets. Your used clothing still has more life in it than you might think.