Where is it preferable to donate clothing to?

amother

Bronze

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 1:12 pm

In an attempt to eliminate clutter from my BH full home, I frequently have clothing to give away. Sometimes this is new clothing that nobody needs, but more often it's used clothing in good condition. I live in a very OOT community in Israel and we don't have standard gmachim like there are in Yerushalayim and other places.

These are my 2 options:

1. Yad Ezra v'Shulamit has bins around the neighborhood. They seem to be emptied regularly. Supposedly the clothing is given for free to needy families.

My hesitation is that someone once told me that they actually recycle the clothing instead of giving them as is, so I called them about a year and a half ago to ask them, and they told me that it's completely untrue - the clothing is given as is to needy families - however, they find it too much work to deal with all the clothing so they're phasing out that part of their organization. She said that most cities don't have the bins anymore, and if we still have ours, they will likely be removed soon. She said that if I have another place to donate to, that would be preferred, though anything I continue to donate until the bins are removed will be sent to people who need it.

That was over a year ago and the bins are still here and being emptied regularly.

2. There's an American woman in our community who sells new and used American clothing. She's quite overpriced, but her used clothing is a bit cheaper. This is by no means a gmach where you can get something for 2 shekels. If she sells a new pair of pants for 60 or 70 shekels, a used one will be 30 or 40. If I donate clothing to her, the person who gains the most from it is her, and while I have nothing against helping her out, she doesn't need tzedaka. I did once give her a brand new sleeper that I had bought in The Children's Place for $2.50 (not realizing it was for the wrong gender) and I saw it in her store being sold for 49 shekel. It gave me somewhat of a bad feeling that someone would have to pay that much money for something that cost me so little.

Which one would you donate to?

zaq

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 2:51 pm

The tzedakah organization, of course, unless the used-clothing vendor is a family member, close friend, or needy individual trying to make ends meet. Otherwise, why would you support a successful for-profit venture when you could be helping people in need? As long as the org is emptying the bins, it's a no-brainer.

If the org ever does take the bins away, why not start a gmach yourself?

cnc

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 2:54 pm

zaq wrote:

this

Rutabaga

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 3:45 pm

So many options.

Dropping them in the bins is probably the easiest thing for you.

You can try selling to the American woman and donating the proceeds to tzedaka or pocketing them yourself.

You can contact the local rebbetzin(s) and/or principals and let them know that you have clothing to give away if they know anyone who needs it.

You can call up group homes or orphanages or organizations that assist immigrants and offer them the clothing. http://shuvu.org might be a good candidate.

You can open your own gemach.

amother

Emerald

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 5:14 pm

I too hope that they're really giving the clothing from the bins to the needy.
I did research years back in Brooklyn and the organizations here that take used clothing actually sell them for pennies by the pound and the "proceeds" of that go to their organization as tzedakah.
I heard that in Monsey and Lakewood there are some good gemachim for gently used clothing and I would love to donate to such a place that actually gets the clothes to people who need them but they are too far away.
So I try to find people who need them. It can be a pain when you have to hold onto things until you find someone. But recently I signed up to a group where people give things away and it has made things much easier. I can post some quick pics and someone who actually thinks they can use the stuff I have will come to pick them within a few days.

amother

Bronze

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 5:22 pm

I found this on a web page of theirs:

Quote:

עוד מציינים השניים שישנם מכולות בעיר בכמה שכונות, מכולות לאיסוף לבגדים וישנם אנשים שממיינים את מה שלא טוב ללבוש הם שולחים למחזור, סמרטוטים שנאספים לצבא לניקוי טנקים כלי נשק ועוד.

I hope that means that what's wearable is given to people who can use them the way they are.