8 Things to know about your donation
8. You get a tax credit for your donation.
While giving makes you feel great, it’ll also help lower that tax bill! To find out the value of your gift visit https://satruck.org/Home/DonationValueGuide
7. If the clothing you donate doesn’t sell, we’ll recycle it
Salvation Army Thrift Stores often receives donated clothing that cannot be sold in stores because it is torn, stained and/or overly worn. The Salvation Army is still able to generate funds from these clothing donations and divert them from local landfills by selling them to cloth graders. The cloth graders re-sort the materials; turning some into rags, selling other parts for the fiber content used to make things such as upholstery stuffing and carpet padding, or resells the items in foreign markets. This results in a win-win situation for the environment and for The Salvation Army as these clothing items stay out of our landfills and generate funds to help our organization provide community programs and services such drug and alcohol recovery and relapse prevention.
6. We work hard to make sure the price is fair and affordable.
All Salvation Army Thrift Stores take the same factors into account when pricing items for sale. These include quality and condition, seasonality, style, brand name, uniqueness and rarity. Items that are in superior quality and condition will be priced at a higher price point than those that are in fair to good condition. The brand recognition or fashionable appeal of an item also helps us to determine the price point.
5. We recycle electronics, toys, and other items that aren’t sellable so they don’t end up in a landfill
The Salvation Army makes every effort to be as environmentally conscious as possible. The recycling of unsellable goods, or parts of goods like scrap metal stripped off an appliance, is a large part of our intake and review process for donations. Unsellable books and shoes are sold by the pound, corrugated cardboard is baled and sold reground and reused, and damaged clothing is baled and sold by the pound as textiles. We also sell plastic, metal and soft toys to recyclers. Salvation Army Thrift Stores also act as collection sites where consumers and businesses can drop off broken or unwanted electronics. We ensure that all of these unsellable items are recycled ethically and that none of them end up in our landfills.
4. Sorting, pricing, and stocking donations provides job training for clients
In areas where the Thrift Stores are run by Adult Rehabilitation Centers (programs aimed to help men and women free themselves from addiction), clients are given the opportunity to regain their self-confidence and acquire the life skills needed to take their place in society. During their six-month stay, participants gain these skills by performing volunteer “work therapy” for 40 hours per week, mostly distributing clothes, furniture and other donations.
3. Having quality merchandise that’ll sell in our stores means jobs for people in our community
Each of our Thrift Stores hire locally to help with management and general staffing. Most stores require 8-10 employees in order to be full staffed and ready to help our loyal shoppers.
2. Donating items will help de-clutter your house
We all have stuff we don’t need lying around, making a donation will help you be ahead of the game when Spring Cleaning comes around!
1. The Salvation Army keeps your donation in your community.
You can feel good knowing that your donated items to The Salvation Army stay local to support programs and services in your own community