Three Reasons to Donate Your Lightly Used Clothing

As the new year approaches many parts of the United States are entering their coldest months of the year. With frigid temperatures, snowstorms and slippery ice moving in, people in these areas are breaking out their heavy winter jackets, boots and gloves to keep warm over the next few months. Unfortunately, however, there are also many people in these areas who will endure the same cold, snowy weather but can’t afford the same warm clothes. For this reason, charities that help the poor are often looking for charitable clothing donations this time of year. These charitable donations are greatly appreciated by both the organizations and those who benefit from them, and they even have a few other benefits as well.

1. Helping Families in Need – The most important reason for donating clothes over the winter is to help the less fortunate get through the long, cold winter months. Most parts of the U.S. experience freezing cold temperatures throughout the winter season, and without the proper clothing a person could get very sick from the cold. Charitable donations can help ensure that people who lack the appropriate winter clothing have what they need to stay warm.
2. Saving the Environment – Aside from helping people, charitable donations also help the environment. Clothing and household textiles make up 5% of the garbage in landfills when most of these items are perfectly capable of being donated. By donating lightly used clothing, people can help to both clothe those who are less fortunate and keep fabric out of our landfills.
3. Receiving Tax Deductions – Anytime a person makes a donation to a charity they are eligible for tax deductions from the government. It is important to keep track of how much each item is worth when organizing them for donation because this is how deductions are calculated. Most charities have a list on their website of items that are commonly donated and list their approximate value to help with this. It is also important to ask for a receipt from a charity for tax purposes.

There are a number of great reasons to make charitable donations, especially when the winter weather settles in. Instead of tossing old clothes that are no longer needed, people should consider donating them to a charity to help those in need, save the environment and receive the tax benefits of their good deeds. See more.