While sustainability may initially bring thoughts of green energy and recycling to mind, it’s also about supporting your local community. Times being as they are, lending a hand to fellow members of your community is as important as it has ever been.
You can start by donating your unwanted items to reputable charities and services, such as:
If you have general items to donate, excessaccess.org will match your items with nonprofits in your area that can pick them up. Of course, St. Vincent de Paul and Goodwill are great local options as well.
For used eyeglasses, Lions Clubs will make sure your old glasses go where they can be used by those in need.
Gently used shoes can be donated to Soles4souls or Donate Your Old Shoes which will send them to disaster zones and other locations around the world.
Men’s suits and ties can be given to Careergear, which matches business clothing to the disadvantaged across the country. You can also contact the Men’s Wearhouse to find out how to participate in their annual August clothing drive to collect men’s business suits for charities. The Men’s Wearhouse also has a list of charities partnered with the store for this drive on their website. You can contact an organization on the list if you are unable to donate at the store during September.
For women’s professional clothing can Dress for Success is one national organization distributes women’s business suits and other professional clothing to women around the country.
If you’re looking to donate food, there a couple of great local organizations at which you can do so. St. Joe’s Food Program distributes 30 tons of fresh food and non-perishable items to hundreds of men, women and children. The Salvation Army – Fox Cities also takes food donations, and appreciates groups organizing food drives. In 2010, its Food Pantry Program distributed 930,706 pounds of groceries, averaging over 77,000 pounds of food each month to needy area families.
These are just a few organizations with whom you can partner to help others. What organizations have you partnered with?