Donation centers and selling furniture in NYC
 

Hello.

Two things:
1. I am in the midst of 'spring' cleaning. A bit late, I know. :) Anyhow, I want to get donate some clothes, an old cell phone, toys, and small kitchen appliances to worthwhile places in NYC. I am thinking perhaps of homeless shelters, shelters for women who have been abused, or anything similar to this. Anybody know of some places?

2. I also need to sell some furniture. I live in NYC and am wondering if there are any good online sites for selling??

Please advise.
Cheers,

gtrekker

If you are a woman, contact the organization "Dress for Success." They help woman who are trying to get their lives straight with clothes and essentials for entering the workforce. Also, the Salvation Army will accept donations as they use the proceeds from sale at their stores to support their cause.

In terms of furniture, you might try the Village Voice.

To sell anything & everything, try
www.craigslist.com

Easy enough

Hi there!
I am in the midst of the same ordeal, not "spring cleaning" but moving !
I am having clothes, coats and linens picked up by the Red Cross, they have an online site so you can book a pick up .
Salvation Army is not my favorite anymore, since they sell stuff and I feel like if I am giving it to them for free, they should give it away too.
The Viet Nam Vets of American will pick up in the suburbs, never used them in Manhattan, but it is worth a try.
And Family Services, needs dishes, clothes, blankets for apts for families who are starting out again after being homeless.
We have friends who collect Art Deco furniture and sometimes they sell pieces on Ebay.
Good luck, you will feel so good when it is all finished :)

Manhattan Mini Storage collects furniture and clothes for The Partnership for the Homeless. They have
a collection bin for clothes at the location near us on 43rd between 10th & 11th, so I'm assuming they have bins at their other locations too.

The following ia an excerpt based on a readers digest article, I would go with the Salvation Army they will pick it up and sell it but they put the proceeds back for the poeple who need it.

One charity in the US that has consistantly received high marks for maximum usage of donations for programs is the Salvation Army. Readers Digest for December 2002 did a story on them (rd.com) and revealed the truth about the (USD)$2.1 billion enterprise -- headed by a man who is paid $13,000 a year. That's thousand dollars, not million dollars. An article reference is Peter F. Drucker, longtime professor at Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University. Which suggests he may be a good source of additional information on charities in general. William Booth founded the organization in 1865 in London; it reached the US in 1880, and today serves in 108 countries. (Information courtesy Readers Digest.)

In the US, we tend to measure charities by the amount not of budgets or collections, but by the percentage of collections that go to work on charity projects. If it's about 50%, we nod our heads but not the Salvation Army -- it as a flow-through rate of 84 percent. Sixty percent is usually high.

In contrast, the American Red Cross is ranked third, receiving private contributions in 2000 of about $750,000 USD and paying its president and CEO, Marsha Evans, $450,000 a year. (The private funds figure is usually a cash figure so it's not exactly grounds for a precise comparison -- but it makes good copy!)

Housing Works has several locations in the city for donations. They are a charity for the homeless but they do sell the things donated. When I was doing a major clean out several years ago, they had the most flexible policy for clothes (ie all the other places I called would only take "in season" clothes & had limited days/times they would accept them). Housing Works also allowed you to submit an itemized list with values that they signed for tax purposes. Call them or check their website housingworks.org