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Mailbag
Oct 15, 2012

Where can I donate household goods?

We are downsizing some of what we have accumulated over the years, you know, the items you seldom use, the items you purchase on a whim and never use. What charity organizations in Sandusky accept donated items? And what items are they accepting? I've frequently donated to the obvious choice, but it seems the items never hit the shelf for resale. I'd rather donate to someone in need or they resell and use the money toward helping others. — Sandy in Huron

I've listed a few options below, but if anyone knows of additional programs that accept household goods, please provide them down in the comments section.

Salvation Army

If you have household furniture, you can call 1-800-728-7825 and a Salvation Army truck will come pick up your item to be taken back to a Toledo distribution center. If you have smaller household goods, you can put them put them in the donation bin outside the Salvation Army office at 3333 Columbus Ave., Sandusky.  If you want a receipt for tax purposes, or if you have delicate donates (like dishes or glass cups) you don't want to dump in the bin, you can drop off items at the office between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Right now the Salvation Army is accepting any donations. Donates sold at thrift stores help fund adult rehabilitation centers.

Care and Share

Care and Share accepts household goods at its donation center at 241 Jackson St. Sandusky, Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays 9-11 a.m., and 1-3 p.m. and Fridays 9-11 a.m. Right now the charity has special need for bedding, towels and winter clothes. No furniture or appliances. Items are given to people in need based on federal poverty guidelines.

Goodwill

Goodwill accepts donations of clothing and household goods at drop off centers listed HERE. Revenue generated through the sale of items goes toward job training and employment programs for people who are disabled or disadvantaged.
 

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Comments

Tourist
Mon, 10/15/2012 - 6:41pm

Interesting question -- "it seems the items never hit the shelf for resale". I go to Goodwill stores throughout NW Ohio for "picking" -- those in the Sandusky region do not seem to have the selection of merchandise that others do. For example, Bowling Green / Findlay / Tiffin stores always have good merchandise, while Fremont / Sandusky / Bellevue not so much.

tigerlilly
Mon, 10/15/2012 - 11:16pm

Once I donated some clothing items at the Goodwill in Norwalk that still had the price tags on them.I was later suprised to find the same clothes in the Sandusky Goodwill store. It could be possible that your merchandise was also transported to another store.

Gunner10
Tue, 10/16/2012 - 7:40am

Victory Kitchen on Hayes Ave in Sandusky takes donations and stuff. They try to find homes and families to give the stuff to for FREE. You can give them a call they might be full and not be able to accept it at this time, but you know it will be going to some place that will give it away to those in need. www.victorykitchen.net You can get the phone number and more info from their website!

jon491
Tue, 10/16/2012 - 8:29am

There is a warehouse in Fremont ,Ohio where your donations may have been shipped to first. This is from goodwill.org.
Q. What Happens to My Donation?

When you donate clothes, dishes, shoes, electronics, or any other item to Goodwill, those items go through a process to ensure that we maximize their value – squeezing every bit of revenue from them to fund our mission – helping people find jobs!

First, we sort items to determine if they are sellable at our Retail Stores. Sixty percent of donations make it to our store shelves, where they are sold to shoppers looking for quality items at affordable prices. When an item doesn’t sell in the stores, we try to sell it a second time in our Outlet Store at a significant discount.

For those items that just don’t sell, they are put into our salvage stream where they are either sold to textile and other recyclers. For those donations that do not meet our quality standards, they too, end up in our salvage stream. If the item cannot be salvaged, it might be recycled in some other way. For example, if Goodwill has extra dishes or glassware, it “trades” another nonprofit organization in the community for that organization’s extra clothing or household items. Unfortunately some items must be disposed of. Through this process of reselling goods and recycling, Goodwill organizations across the country have diverted billions of used clothes and other goods from landfills. Plus, nationally, Goodwill has earned hundreds of millions of dollars by selling to salvage vendors – dollars that help people find jobs to our community

Factitious
Tue, 10/16/2012 - 2:37pm

GRACE THRIFT SHOP benefits local charities and accepts about anything except furniture and other big stuff. They recently moved to nice new digs at East Market and Hancock in Sandusky. They take consignments too!
419-626-5453 http://www.gracesandusky.org/thr...

RESTORE benefits Firelands Habitat For Humanity. They're in Avery Commerce Park at US-250 (Milan Rd) & Mason Rd in Milan.
This is the best place to donate and buy usable appliances, cabinets, fixtures, building materials and architectural details gleaned from remodeling and renovation projects. They do have very detailed acceptance standards.
419-499-4507 http://www.firelandshabitat.org/...

ENCORE SHOP benefits Stein Hospice charity care.
Columbus Avenue in Downtown Sandusky across from the State Theatre
They focus on REALLY nice stuff, much of it LIKE NEW, so it's a good place to send things that seem too nice to just "get rid" of. It's a great place for Holiday shopping for unique things, and THEY ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS. They welcome and will pick up usable furniture but can't take large appliances.
They occassionally post interresting items on the SH Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/steinho...
419-502-0019 http://www.steinhospice.org/enco...

myownopinion
Tue, 10/16/2012 - 10:23am

There is also a web based site called "freecycle.org" people list items they need and items they are giving away. If you have any furniture, beds, bookshelves, clothes, household there is always someone in need on that site.