Have you ever considered giving your gently used goods to a Red Cross donation center? We know, you’re probably thinking, “I thought Red Cross donation centers were for donating blood or money… not gently used household items.” In reality, the Red Cross supports a vast range of human needs. Some of which require blood donations, some of which require monetary donations, and some of which require used clothing donations.
The thing about giving your unneeded household items to a Red Cross donation center (or any great charitable cause, for that matter) is the good vibes extend far beyond the good cause itself. Let’s think about it:
- Giving to a good cause gives you energy.
When you donate your gently used items to Red Cross donation center or any great cause, you aren’t just helping them; you help yourself. Studies show that doing good for someone else generate the feel-good endorphins in the brain that give you a better outlook in life, improve your energy levels, and brightens your own day. This effect is so powerful that some psychologists utilize kindness therapy to help their patients get out of their rut and into a healthier path. When you donate your gently used items to charity, this is exactly what you are doing.
In addition to the natural good vibes you get from doing good, giving your unneeded household items to a great cause also clears clutter out of your home. Studies show that having more things than your brain feels in control of triggers a sense of anxiety. By giving things that you don’t need to charity, you’re able to clear your home and your mind in the process. You win. - Giving unneeded items to charity helps the greater good.
This might obvious, but the cause that you donate to is benefited when you give goods to charity. While the whole point of our post today is to talk about a little-known way to support the Red Cross, we aren’t only talking about Red Cross donation centers here. There are a million different charitable organizations that you can donate donate clothing or household items to. They all serve the community in their own way, and your
clothes donations furthers that cause in one way or another. Perhaps your donations literally put clothing on the back of a person in need. Sometimes the Red Cross (or similar organizations) use donated items to meet the needs of people in crisis. Other times, your donated items are converted into cash in thrift stores and that cash furthers the cause of the organization. Either way, when you clear out that unneeded junk from your home and give it to a good cause, it helps further the purpose of that cause. - Donating to charity helps the environment.
When your unneeded items go to the trash, it is taken to a landfill (a giant hole we dump trash in) and sits there to rot for the next fifty million years. The rate in which we create and fill landfills is alarming. Our beautiful Earth will not sustain itself at the pace that we are destroying it.
When you give goods to charity instead of throwing it away, you are supporting the environment in many ways. First of all, your unneeded item is getting a second life instead of taking up space in a landfill. Secondly, since your donated good is being used instead of creating a new one, the energy and resources that would have gone to create that item again are saved. This included materials, manufacturing energy and waste, and packaging waste, all eliminated. Giving to charity instead of throwing your unwanted goods away saves the environment. - Donating your household items helps the economy.
When you give your unwanted household items to charity and the charity sells them in a thrift store, not only does the money help their cause, someone is able to purchase your donated item for far less than they would have to spend if they bought it new. This leaves more money in their pocket, which they can use on other goods and services in your area, benefiting other local businesses. In fact, if you are a business owner, it might circle back to you and put money in your own pocket.
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