That's Neat! Blog

Ever wonder what happens to the clothes and toys that you donate? Last week my daughter and I found out what happens with donated items at Cradles to Crayons. A Boston-based non-profit organization, Cradles to Crayons provides the essentials through donated clothes, shoes, toys and school supplies to homeless and disadvantaged children.

My daughter and I were very excited to work at Cradles to Crayons “Giving Factory,” the very creative name for their warehouse of donated goods. We arrived and immediately found lots of helpful staff and volunteer workers.  Once all the volunteer groups were assembled, we all had an introduction to the goals of Cradles to Crayons and saw the end product of the donations: a bag with a week’s worth of clothing, shoes, toys and school supplies for a child.

There are many steps that happen before that bag gets filled for a child. The first step is “Triage” – this is the first sort of donated items to be sure they meet Cradles to Crayons high standards.  Toys and school supplies go to one area, while clothes are then sorted by gender. 

Next the clothing is sorted. This is where my daughter and I worked. She loved sorting types of clothes – shirts, pants, dresses – into the appropriate size bins. We started with a large industrial-size laundry bin of a type of clothing. We looked to make sure each item met the quality standards and then sorted it by size. Working with other volunteers, over two hours we sorted at least for of the huge bins. Later we found out that our work at just the sorting station helped approximately 165 kids!

After the clothes are sorted by gender and size, they go to the Outfit area. Here volunteers put together clothing to make complete outfits. Cradles to Crayons strives to give a child a week’s worth of clothing.

Finally. other volunteers get to go “Shopping” where they pick out outfits, shoes, toys and school supplies from The Giving Factory shelves for a specific child. All they know is the child’s name, gender and age.

This was an extremely well-run volunteer experience, and I was so impressed with the work of this organization. My daughter and I can’t wait to go back.

If you aren’t up for a tag sale to get rid of your unwanted stuff, how about giving it away? Your “trash” truly can be someone else’s treasure.

Here are some ideas for how to get things out for free:

• I love Freecycle and it’s rare that I can’t get rid of something through my local Freecycle network. This is a real resource, and I’m continually amazed at what I can give away that others want: old magazines, blinds and curtains, and old filing cabinets for example.
• The free section of Craigslist if you have one in your city.
• Find or create a Free Table. While walking to dinner with a friend last week, she excitedly pulled me across the street to see the Free Table in her neighborhood. Well known in the neighborhood, the Free Table is a folding table that is always out front of one house, rain or shine. Locals come to drop off items and pick something up. It’s a great way to recycle and keep things out of the landfill.
• Other friends had a similar idea when they were decluttering before a big move: they created a Treasure Bench. The bench was loaded with items they were ready to part with, and if you came to visit or attended the going away party, you had to leave with an item. I picked up some great kids books for my daughter, and a label maker…and I wasn’t even a Professional Organizer yet!
• Finally, if you are on the busy street, don’t underestimate the power of leaving something on the curb with a “free” sign. I cleared out three working but un-needed air conditioners from my basement just by putting them out on the curb last summer.

Of course if you are the one shopping for free things, please be sure you really need the item. It’s easy to pick up something saying you’ll use it but if you don’t, it quickly becomes clutter. Donate it or pass it on.

Not everyone will have a car sitting around to donate, but if you do I just learned that the Salvation Army will not only accept your used vehicles, but that they also take motorcycles, trucks and boats!

Other organizations that accept car donations include:

• Kars4Kids in Massachusetts
• Cars for US Troops (supports US Veterans)
• America’s Car Donation Center (can choose to support many different charities)

If you are in the mood for some big Spring cleaning, consider getting rid of that old vehicle, even if it isn’t in working condition.

It’s spring cleaning time! And time to purge some books you no longer need or want. Donate them to More Than Words for their annual Spring Clean Book Drive between April 27th – 29th. Located in Waltham, More Than Words accepts books, CDs, and DVDs.

Check out their website for more information on the book drive, and how the organization empowers local youth.

Anton’s Cleaners is once again sponsoring the Belle of the Ball, a program to “clean and distribute prom dresses to high school junior and senior girls who would otherwise not have the opportunity to attend their school's prom.”

Check your closet, talk to your daughter, and see if you have any dresses to support this worthy cause. Donate gently used dresses before April 1st at Anton’s Cleaners or Jordan’s Furniture locations.