“Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” The quote by Martin Luther King Day provides a perfect time to reflect on your gifts and to evaluate what kind of service you can provide to others. As individuals and groups across the country look for ways to provide service, it may be surprising to know that service can be provide by simply going through, sorting, and donating unused items to charity. Clothing donation pickup services make it even easier to make an impact on the day that has become known as a day of service to many.
Used clothing donations help fuel an entire industry. Obviously, these items become available to people who are the most in need. In fact, gently used clothing donations are the only items that some victims of natural disasters ever have as they prepare to rebuild themselves and their lives. Red Cross donations make their way to every disaster in this country and disasters across the globe. In fact, The American National Red Cross is America’s 13th largest charity when ranked by private donations. In the year 2014 it received $687 million in private donations. While many of the donations are monetary, the clothing that is donated is some of the very first response efforts victims see.
Clothing donation pickup services also help ensure that fewer items fill America’s already crowded landfills. The U.S. is a country that is known for high rates of consumption. In fact, U.S. citizens consume nearly 20 billion clothing items a year. Broken down, this number is equal to 68 garments and 7 pairs of shoes a person. These numbers translate into more than one piece of clothing purchased every single week by every single American. When these purchased items are no longer used it is important that they be donated, instead of crowding a landfill.
Clothes donations are also an important part of teaching future generations that even small kindnesses matter. Teaching children to be thoughtful about the items that fill their closets and dressers is a beginning step toward teaching children that they should be thoughtful in all that they say and do.
Making a time to prepare for monthly clothing donation pickup is a great way for families to make a habit of thinking of others. In a society where much time and money can be spent on purchasing and consuming, what a message it sends to teach children to think of others as well. A monthly habit of sorting through unused items and putting them in a box to be donated is a great method for keeping your own purchases in check, while providing for others at the same time.
Nearly 70% of Americans give to charity every single year. Isn’t today a great time to make sure that your family’s year starts out with a giving attitude, and that you become part of this growing national statistic?
