There are plenty of ways for you to have an impact on your community, and the world around you.
Supporting worthy causes with donations, and donations-in-kind is one such way of doing so.
Here are a list of 6 thrift stores that are doing great work in their communities that you could support by donating your clothes and other items.
1. L.A Road Thrift Store
Image Credit: L.A Thrift Store Facebook Page
Donation Hours: Monday – Saturday. 10am - 4pm
Phone: (323) 739-6478
Location: 3516 N Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90065, United States
List of acceptable items: Click here
If you love to see non-profits supporting their local communities, then you should definitely donate your clothes to the L.A Road Thrift Store.
L.A Road Thrift Store is a local non-profit that operates 100% from the donations that they receive from the community. In return, they partner up with local charities to serve the families in the area. They also host events that bring their neighbours together to celebrate life.
L.A Road Thrift Store accepts gently used clothing, household items, furniture, shoes, etc. You can get the full list of items they accept on their website.
Their donation drop-off point is right behind their store. Do give them a call before dropping by to make sure things go easily for you.
2. National Council Of Jewish Women | The Council Thrift Shop
Image Credit: NCJW Los Angeles Facebook Page
Donation Hours: Monday – Saturday. 10am - 5pm
Phone: (323) 655-3111
Location: Multiple. Click here for a list of locations
List of acceptable items: Click here
As per their website, the National Council Of Jewish Women (NCJW) | LA community provides direct programs and services to more than 12,000 individuals each year.
The NCJW has 3 main programmes, namely, (1) the Guaranteed Income for Caregivers, Youth & Teen Education and Critical Response.
Additionally, they also offer scholarships for all backgrounds, run advocacy programmes as well as events. You can read more about their initiatives here.
They currently operate over 7 Council Thrift Shops in Los Angeles, and they receive more than 100,000 annual donations. With these donations, they give away more than $431k of goods directly to people in need.
When you donate your items to The Council Thrift Shop, you're directly supporting their efforts to help people in need in Los Angeles.
Currently, The Council Thrift Shop operates a contactless drop-off system. So you need to prepare a donation box top your items off at their donation centers.
You can donate your clothes, shoes, jewellery, and decorative housewares. Here's a quick infographic for more info on how you can prep your donations before dropping them off.
3. American Cancer Society Discover Shop
Image Credit: American Cancer Society Discovery Shop Enterprise Facebook Page
Donation Hours: Varies. Refer to the list of locations
Phone: (310) 287-1156
Location: Multiple. Click here for a list of locations
List of acceptable items: Click here
You can support the American Cancer Society's efforts on Cancer by donating your pre-loved clothing, shoes, handbags, household items, etc.
All your donations will be curated and sold at the American Cancer Society's upscale discovery shops. The proceeds from the sales go towards having an impact on cancer. So you can make a difference both by donating and purchasing directly from their stores.
They operate about 10 discovery shops in the Los Angeles and Ventura Area. You can click here to find the nearest shop to schedule a drop-off appointment. Some of their stores also offer a pick-up service for larger household items as well. Do get in touch with them for more info on this.
Alternatively, you can also list items on eBay yourself and contribute 10% to 100% of the sale directly to the American Cancer Society. Click here to have a look at shop their eBay store as well.
4. Society of St. Vincent de Paul Los Angeles Thrift Store
Image Credit: Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles Thrift Store Facebook Page
Donation Hours: 9.30am – 6pm
Phone: 323-224-6280
Location: Multiple. Click here for a list of locations
List of acceptable items: Click here
St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles is a Catholic volunteer organisation that serves the poor and homeless of any religion for free.
As per their website, about 2,500 volunteer in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties meet with the disadvantaged in their homes to provide food, clothing, furniture, appliances, rental and other forms of financial assistance.
St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles also operates food pantries, soup kitchens, and a homeless program for men on Skid Row in LA. They get about 100 men a year into housing through their homeless program. You can have a look at this video on their website to know more about the impact they're having.
By donating and shopping at their stores, you're helping fund their charitable programs and services. Their volunteers also rely on their thrift stores to provide free clothing, furniture and appliances for needy families that they serve.
As such, you can donate your clothes and other items directly to their thrift stores or you could call their free donation pickup hotline 1-800-974-3571 to arrange for a pickup.
Do give their FAQ a read as well to get more info on how they work.
5. Beacon House Thrift Shop
Image Credit: Beacon House Thrift Shop Facebook Page
Donation Hours: 11am – 7pm
Phone: 310-514-4940
Location: Multiple. Click here for a list of locations
List of acceptable items: Click here
Beacon House Thrift Shop is a social enterprise program of the Beacon House Association of San Pedro. The Beacon House Association is a state-certified, residential substance abuse recovery program for men.
The Beacon House Thrift shop provides an avenue for their men to practice the life and job skills they need to build a better future for themselves.
The proceeds from second-hand donation sales go towards funding their recovery programs, and help give these men a second chance at life.
You can donate your clothes by dropping them off at their thrift stores during their operating hours or you could also arrange for a pick-up. Click here to go through their FAQs to understand more about what they accept, and how they work.
Do note that all your donations need to be good, clean, and re-sellable condition. Click here to have a look at the full list of items that they accept.
6. Out Of The Closet
Image Credit: Out of the Closet Thrift Stores Facebook Page
Donation Hours: 10am – 7pm
Phone: 1800-558-8220
Location: Multiple. Click here for a list of locations
List of acceptable items: Click here
You can impact the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS by donating clothes to and shopping at the Out of the Closet Thrift Stores.
When you donate your clothes, they're curated and sold through Out of The Closet's thrift stores. From every sale, 96 cents of every dollar goes directly to fund AIDS Healthcare Foundation's HIV/AIDS programs and their new housing services, their on-site pharmacies and their free HIV testing service.
Out Of the Closet also operates a pick up service for larger items as well. You can simply fill up this form here to arrange for a pickup.
7. Savers
Image Credit: Savers Facebook Page
Donation Hours: 11am – 7pm
Phone: +1 310-326-2187
Location: Multiple. Click here for a list of locations
List of acceptable items: Click here
Recommended by: Habitual_Crankshaft via Reddit
Savers is a for-profit company that champions reuse, and they work quite differently from the other thrift stores you might know.
Here's how Savers work.
You donate your clothes and pre-loved items to Savers on behalf of a local non-profit. Savers will then go ahead and pay their non-profit partners for your stuff, thus, helping them fund their local initiatives.
Some of their non-profit partners include the likes of The Arc, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Candlelighters, Epilepsy Foundation, etc. You can click here to see the full list of their partner non-profits.
Savers then resells your donated items through their network of thrift stores.
Through their unique model, Savers helps support non-profits, and they also help keep clothes and textiles far away from landfills.
In fact, according to their website they help divert 700 million pounds of clothing and textiles on average from landfills each year. Last year alone, they saved 244 million tops, 84 million pants, 28 million pairs of shoes, and so much more.
So what can you donate to Savers?
On behalf of their non-profit partners, Savers accepts pre-loved clothing, shoes, backpacks, electronics, housewares, etc. You can click here to see their full list of acceptable items.
By donating to Savers, you accomplish two things – you help support local causes and you also help protect the environment by keeping clothing and textiles away from landfills.
8. Son of a Vet
Image Credit: Son of a Vet Facebook Page
Donation Hours: 10am – 7pm. Closed on Sundays
Phone: +1 323-227-1808
Location: 3310 N Eastern Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90032, United States
Recommended by: soulmachines via Reddit
Son of a Vet is a thrift shop that sells clothing, appliances, and an eclectic array of home and office furniture.
You can donate your clothes and pre-loved items by heading to their store. They'll have a look at some of the items that you'd like to donate, and they'll accept the ones that they could sell.
Do give them a call before you drop-in to their store to so that you can manage your logistics before dropping by 🙂.
9. Special N Cheap
Donation Hours: 1pm – 7pm. Closed on Sundays
Phone: N/A
Location: 1738 E 7th St #5016, Long Beach, CA 90813, United States
Recommended by: Mysterious_Valuable1 via Reddit
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10. Goodwill Southern California
Image Credit: Goodwill Southern Calfornia Facebook Page
Donation Hours: 8am - 7pm
Phone: 323 223 1211
Location: Multiple. Click here for a list of locations
List of acceptable items: Click here
Recommended by: Habitual_Crankshaft & Geospatialnerd via Reddit
You can help individuals with disabilities and disadvantages in your community secure sustainable employment through education and career placement services simply by donating your clothes and pre-loved items to Goodwill Southern California.
Goodwill would then sell your donated clothes and items through their network of more than 80 stores. The proceeds from these sales would go towards funding their good work.
Goodwill Southern California accepts everything from clothing and accessories to small household appliances, furnishings, computers, books, and other collectibles in good or new condition.
Do check out their donation guidelines here, and also check out their donation centre locator so you can find a drop-off point near you.
As always, make sure to contact your preferred thrift store directly by calling them before dropping off your items. This way, you can clarify any questions or concerns that you might have, and you can also set an appointment to drop your items off.
Don't see your favourite thrift store on this list? Fret not, just drop me a line at ajay@jirehshope.com or message the Jireh's Hope FB page, and I'll add them to the list 😉
Also On Jireh's Hope: 5 Impactful Places To Donate Your Clothes In New York
*Feature Image Credit: Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles Thrift Store Facebook Page