What do I give away?

stillgrowing

Mon, May 02 2022, 4:41 am

I'm going through my daughter's clothing and putting away the good stuff for my younger daughter. The clothes I didn't want to pass down, I brought to the gemach. By the way, this process took time because I had to sort giveaways from throwaway (stained/ not in good condition.) I came to the gemach with all my bags. The lady took one look at the bags and told me it's all trash and she'll only give away clothing in excellent condition. This makes a lot of sense and I don't disagree.
However , I am still going through clothing and I assume I just throwaway anything I don't pass down. Is this the right approach? My time is so limited right now and I really don't have time to throughly inspect all the clothing.

Sesame

Mon, May 02 2022, 5:06 am

Anything you don’t want and can’t be donated because it’s not in good condition, I’d throw/recycle. What else is there to do with it?

stillgrowing

Mon, May 02 2022, 5:11 am

So, does that mean that the type of items you can give away is very limited? In other words, what is there to give away? These gemachs exist for a reason

Last edited by stillgrowing on Mon, May 02 2022, 5:16 am; edited 1 time in total

Sesame

Mon, May 02 2022, 5:14 am

stillgrowing wrote:

So, does that mean that the type of items you can give away is very limited? In other words, what is there to give away? These gemachs exist for a reason.

Things in decent condition can be given away. I’d think it would be unfair if someone unfortunately needed to go to a gemach for clothing but all there is, is worn out clothing, clothing with visible stains or very very old style stuff. That makes sense to me. No one wants something worn out, or stained. That’s not presentable.

dankbar

Mon, May 02 2022, 5:35 am

There is chesed center that picks up from your house, clothing, toys, household stuff. they sort thru what's good and distribute to local families. Yes you should only put in stuff in good condition that's respectable to wear, only it doesn't fit anymore etc.
It seems like whatever was in good condition you kept for yourself to pass down and whatever wasn't you wanted to donate, so basically you yourself saw it's not something deemed worthy enough of reusing.
If you would take the nice stuff that doesn't fit anymore, I am sure they would gladly take it.

twizzlers1

Mon, May 02 2022, 6:49 am

I have volunteered in a clothing gmach before period they get so many things and honestly I would say way over half is trash. The people that work in it are all volunteers and I was making any money out of it. When I go through clothes if I wouldn't keep it or pass it down to my own kids then it goes in the trash. I would only pass on something that either doesn't fit or is just not my taste anymore. And if it is clearly very outdated then I just throw that away as well. I think there's some places that to recycling. But please don't drop off things that won't work because it just makes a lot of work for the person going through it. And most of the time they're not doing it for the money but to help others.

cbg

Mon, May 02 2022, 7:06 am

Find a good will near you
They will take all conditions
They sort it
Whatever is good to sell they keep
The rest is sold to companies that are padding under carpet or sofas
They mulch it up and use it

teachkids

Mon, May 02 2022, 7:13 am

Short answer is the stuff you're putting away for your younger child. But you're using it instead. Which is totally acceptable. But if you don't want to use it, probably no one else does either.

zaq

Mon, May 02 2022, 3:57 pm

See if your city has any textile recycling centers or collection days. Check with the sanitation department as this is usually the agency that handles this kind of project.

zaq

Mon, May 02 2022, 3:58 pm

Of course there are projects you can make with old textiles, from rag rugs to throw pillows, stuffed animal toys to cleaning cloths.

baltomom

Mon, May 02 2022, 3:59 pm

See if you can find someone in your neighborhood with a child the right size who would be interested in hand-me-downs. Not everyone cares that their kids clothes should look perfect or be the height of style. Sometimes you don't want to put something away for a few years because it will look dated, but someone else who can use it now might want it.