Tag: charity donations pickup

Lend Mom A Hand — Help Her Declutter

Posted on by Jordank

Sunday is Mother’s Day, and given the fact that the pandemic isn’t over, you may be planning to send a card or schedule a Zoom call. If you’re able to meet in person, you may have made brunch reservations or purchased a special bouquet to give her.

Whether or not you’ve made those arrangements, there’s one more thing you should consider giving your mother, and it’s a gift she’ll never forget: a day of your time. Volunteer to help her #declutter and #clean her home.

This blog’s author can tell you from experience how much a mother appreciates such a gift. Not only will she enjoy having a newly organized and spotless kitchen, garage or living room, but she will also appreciate the fact that you took the time to do it.

Many moms have a room in their home that they wish was a little more organized. It could just be a shelf or drawer that needs rearranging and dusting, but the chore is on her mental list and she hasn’t had the time to do it herself.

If you already know where her home’s #clutter trouble spots are, suggest that you take care of one during a visit. If you don’t, ask! Chances are that there is an overflowing junk drawer or overstuffed kitchen cabinet you can clean out.

Decluttering is just one of the chores you can take off Mom’s hands; she may need a wall repainted or a shelf fixed. There’s probably a light bulb to replace or a picture to hang. If you really want to show you care, give her a framed family picture and hang it on the wall immediately.

Many moms may be looking to downsize in retirement, but may not know where to begin. You can help her prepare for that next phase by sorting through some of the extra stuff that has accumulated over the years.

If you happen to find anything that she doesn’t want or need as you help Mom declutter and clean — and you will — schedule a #donation #pickup with ClothingDonations.org. That way, she’ll know that her extra #junk is going toward a good cause.

In addition to giving Mom a newly #organized, neat and #clean space, you’ll also get a few hours to catch up after a long year in lockdown. Make a day of it! It’s quality time, well-spent. And she will remember that day long after the flowers have wilted.

Is It Safe to Donate My Used Stuff?

Posted on by Jordank

ClothingDonations.org is again scheduling pickups throughout the country. But with coronavirus cases and hospitalizations again on the rise, readers may be wondering whether or not they can make their donations safely. The answer is yes!

Donations can be made without coming into close contact with other people and risking viral transmission. Simply put your lightly used clothing and household goods into boxes and bags, then place the boxes and bags in a designated area such as the front porch for pickup on the scheduled day.

A ClothingDonations.org truck will visit that day and take that used stuff away with a contactless pickup — without even knocking or ringing the doorbell. In your donation’s place, the driver will leave a receipt so you can deduct your donation.

If someone in your household has already had COVID-19 and recovered, it should be safe to donate your used things, too. Early on, it was found that the virus could survive on hard surfaces for 24 to 72 hours. Transmission between people, however, has since been found to be mostly a function of airborne droplets. As long as you donate things that have been washed or wiped down, in other words, there is little chance of passing the virus on your stuff.

You can continue to wipe down high-touch surfaces in your home and use hand sanitizer after touching unfamiliar surfaces to protect yourself. But you can be secure in the knowledge that donated goods aren’t a significant vector for disease.

The same goes for shopping at the thrift stores ClothingDonations.org supplies with used goods. Donated by families like yours, those one-of-a-kind finds spend sufficient time out of circulation before being priced for sale.

Finally, remember that a clutter-free home is a home that’s easier to keep clean. So as you sort through and eliminate some of your stuff, you’ll actually be making it easier to keep your place COVID-free.

With new lockdowns and restrictions, you may find soon yourself with plenty of time at home to declutter. Box and bag that stuff up and visit ClothingDonations.org to schedule a pickup today!

Donation Pickups Temporarily Halted Due to COVID-19

Posted on by Jordank

The Organizing Blog regrets to inform readers that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted ClothingDonations.org’s regular donation pickup services. We are currently unable to collect your donations in all but a few areas of the country.

If you are unable to schedule a donation pickup at our websites, that’s likely because service in your area is unavailable at this time. To check on your location, call the pickup number for your state listed at ClothingDonations.org.

We will resume pickup service as soon as it is safe to do so for our donors and drivers. We encourage you to revisit the site when the social distancing guidelines designed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus start to ease.

Social distancing and stay-at-home orders may provide the extra time you need to get started on #decluttering tasks you might have been putting off, however. Be sure to revisit the Tales From the Closet archives for advice on all kinds of #cleaning, #organizing and decluttering tasks.

Take advantage of your newfound down time to sort out the stuff you no longer need, want or find useful. Bag or box those castoffs and set them aside; we will pick them up as soon as we can resume donation pickup service safely.

We appreciate your support and patience during the COVID-19 pandemic and hope that you, your family and your friends are safe.

Sincerely,

Quentin Butcher, Business Director, Vietnam Veterans of America

Take Advantage of Kids’ Back-to-School Time

Posted on by Jordank

Many parents will be sending their kids off to school over the next two weeks, making for a bittersweet moment whether they’re heading to kindergarten or college. But what most parents don’t realize is that when summer ends and the offspring leave the house for at least part of the day, the demands on their own time will ease.

Without the kids constantly underfoot, needing rides or foraging for food, parents will have additional hours during the day to pursue their own career, learning and life goals. If you are in this situation and want to make the most of this newfound freedom, you’ll need to plot out a few projects for those extra hours.

Time management is the first step, Project Me says; without a plan, those extra kid-free hours will evaporate fast. Start by listing the things you would like to do with your extra time, such as going to the gym, starting a new work project or going back to school yourself. Identify your most important tasks, put them on a daily schedule and get started.

Decluttering is an excellent option, the site says. Step back and take an objective look at your space, create a plan of attack (doing one room at a time, for example, or targeting a number of bags and boxes to donate to ClothingDonations.org), and dive in. When each step in the task is complete, reward yourself! You’ll be much more likely to complete it if you have your eyes on a prize.

Back-to-school clutter likely needs organizing, says All Parenting’s “20 Things to Do When your Kids Go Back to School;” many areas may be cluttered with new clothing, backpacks and homework. Household cleaning tasks probably took a backseat to summer fun, too, so now’s the time to catch up on deep-cleaning the refrigerator, ceiling fans, baseboards, bathrooms and floors.

A digital decluttering can also help you get organized for the season ahead. Go through all of the summer photos on your phone(s) and camera(s); download them to a safe place and print the best ones out for framing and display. And while you’re at it, clean up your desktop and delete the mobile apps you haven’t used in months.

Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent or work full time, you’ll find that having the kids at school will free up a little bit of your time. Plan on making the most of it!

To Declutter, Donate Early and Donate Often

Posted on by Jordank

Anyone who has attempted to declutter all or part of their home knows that it can be a time-consuming and often frustrating process. If you stop to think about each item’s sentimental or monetary value and/or get overwhelmed by the project’s scope, you’ll get bogged down. You won’t see progress — and progress is what provides the motivation to continue.

The solution? Donate early, and donate often! You can contact ClothingDonations.org and request a pickup every time you gather up as little as one, two, or three boxes or bags of stuff. When a truck is in your area, it will stop, pick up those donations and leave a tax receipt. You’ll see that junk almost magically start to disappear, and the results will help you gain momentum.

To conquer those sentimental second thoughts that can defuse your decluttering, follow the “keep, trash, donate” rule. Decide quickly what will and will not stay in your home, put it in a bag or box, and don’t look back. And know that anything of value left in the “donate” pile is going to a good cause — programs that benefit our nation’s veterans.

If you’ve been in the same place for a while and share it with family members, the scope of a decluttering task can easily become overwhelming. To stay on top of it, break the project down into smaller pieces by targeting a single room each week, or dedicating an hour or two every Saturday morning. Once a few boxes are packed, contact ClothingDonations.org. Before you know it, you’ll have eliminated junk from every room.

For an in-depth decluttering, revisit each room regularly. The first sweep may net only a few bags of tchotchkes and T-shirts, but by your second tour, you’ll be a more seasoned declutterer and less sentimental about the extra stuff overflowing out of your closets and drawers. Your donations may even get bigger as you start to enjoy your new, uncluttered space; arrange another pickup!

If you get really good at decluttering, relatives and friends may ask you to help out with their moves, estate liquidations and other big projects. You don’t have to help unless you want to, of course, but if there is ever a call for it, most ClothingDonations.org affiliates can pick up more than 20 boxes of stuff at a time. For more information on what we can and can’t pick up, visit the ClothingDonations FAQ.

After you’ve decluttered in earnest, you’ll see a variety of benefits. Not only will your space be easier to clean and retain less dust and allergens, you’ll probably also enjoy the subtle, simple psychological benefit of feeling less constricted or weighed down by your extra stuff. So start right away, and donate as often as you like!