You cleaned out your closet in pandemic-boredom. Here’s where to take your stuff.
The COVID-19 quarantine gave many of us the opportunity to do some much needed purging of old clothes, furniture and books. Many of us made a big push right at the start of the pandemic, but had no place to donate our goods because collection centers shut down. With those stores mostly back in business, there are some of us just now getting to the cleanup.
“I’m very late to the quarantine cleaning bandwagon,” said Erin Keever. “I’ve been envious of everyone else’s Marie Kondo-like purges. Like many others, my husband and I have been working full time mostly from home. Our almost-2- year-old has been out of daycare, so there’s been no semblance of free time around here.”
Keever eventually found some time over the past couple of weeks. We found her on Twitter attempting to find a new home for some old books.
“I had three boxes of books to get rid of. I wanted them to do some good, so I did some asking around about where to donate books. The couple of libraries I called said they usually do take book donations, but they’re not right now because of COVID. We ended up taking them to Habitat for Humanity of Gaston County,” Keever said.
The purge isn’t done for Keever and family.
“Up next on the chopping block is about a decade’s worth of old technology — computers, cords, ancient cell phones, etc., that need to be gone through and recycled,” Keever said. “There’s literally an entire bag of random cords that we’ve moved to a different house, and I don’t even know what they are. Tech is a whole other can of worms, though. You don’t want to compromise any data, and you don’t want dangerous things ending up in a landfill.”
Well, there’s a place for that, too.
Situations like this are creating a win-win for Kondo-like purgers and nonprofits in desperate need of new, old items. If you’re a clutter-buster, here are some ideas:
If you’re looking to donate your old stuff
Here are some local spots accepting donations:
Beds for Kids
980-422-1192
Accepts mattresses, furniture, new pillows and bedding, gently used blankets.
Catholic Charities
704-370-3283
Accepts furniture, kitchen items, clean linens, household items.
Crisis Assistance Ministry
704-522-4978
Accepts clothing, mattresses, furniture, working appliances (no built-in appliances), household items.
eCycleSecure
855-508-9722
Recycles electronics such as computers, fax/copy machines, scanners, cords, etc. Some items require a small charge.
Goodwill Industries
704-393-6880
Accepts clothing, furniture, household items, small appliances, sports equipment, toys and games, flat panel TVs.
Habitat for Humanity ReStore
704-392-4495
Accepts appliances, furniture, building materials, home decor, books, cabinets and more. The ReStore cannot accept computers, clothing, mattresses, and appliances older than 10 years.
Promising Pages
704-399-1934
Accepts new and gently used children’s and young adult books.
Salvation Army
704-332-1171
Accepts clothing, furniture, working appliances, household items.
Trips for Kids - Recyclery
704-910-3970
Donate your bikes, parts or accessories.
Turning your trash into treasure
If you want to try and make some extra quick cash, consignment stores are a booming business in Charlotte. You can sell everything from upscale clothes and accessories to vintage and antique furnishings and decorations:
Clothes Mentor
Accepts accessories, women’s clothing, used, vintage and consignment items. There are three locations in the greater Charlotte area.
Jilson’s Men’s Consignment
We didn’t want to leave the guys out. Accepts men’s clothing, accessories, used, vintage and consignment items. 117 Middleton Drive in the Elizabeth neighborhood.
Sardis Marketplace
Accepts home decor, antiques, used, vintage and consignment items. 2328 Crown Center Drive.
Sweet Repeats Upscale Consignment Boutique
Accepts women’s clothing, accessories and jewelry. 300 South Blvd.
There are also multiple places to try and sell online like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Nextdoor and more.
Reopening thrift and ReStores
Despite being shut down for several weeks, most Charlotte-area donation collection centers are back open, but with different operating models.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous effect on our operations,” said Brent Rinehart, director of communications with the Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte.
Now that the groups have reopened and are working to modify their businesses, it’s not all bad news. The theme now is more with less.
“We reopened with a lot of changes,” said Tonya Nations, vice president of donated goods and retail for Goodwill. “Nearly a dozen new safety protocols were introduced, including mask requirements, social distancing and occupancy limits, of course, but also symptom check-ins for team members, quarantining donations and hourly cleaning and disinfecting. We’re also accepting donations via carts to encourage social distancing, and are quarantining donations for 24 hours before processing them.”
While the COVID-19 shutdown was temporarily bad for business, it eventually helped bring in more donations as people quarantining in their homes finally had time to sort through items in their closets and garages.
“We know a lot of people have been cleaning their homes during this time, and we are so appreciative of the donations we’re receiving. Our community has been really generous with their donations since we reopened, and that’s amazing for us to see because the programs and services they make possible are in high demand right now,” Nations said.
Nearly all of Goodwill’s donation centers and stores are now back open for business.
There’s a similar story for the Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte. While it never stopped collecting donations, it did implement new protocols to keep team members safe. The nonprofit also said it never reduced any services to the men in its rehabilitation program. While Salvation Army did furlough some of its employees, many of them have since been rehired.
Even better for the organization, it is seeing a rebound in sales.
“Since 100% of our store sales help us to operate our residential rehabilitation program, it’s critical that we continue to grow our sales,” Rinehart said. “We have currently rebounded back to making 90% in three Family Stores (Central Avenue, Gastonia and Kannapolis) that we used to see in five store locations.”
There’s that common theme again: more with less.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlotte also shut down but has since reopened with reduced hours and is seeing a strong return in terms of donations and sales.
“We are seeing strong foot traffic and steady donations,” said Peter Brown, director of marketing and communications with Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region. “For the adjusted hours, we are seeing the equivalent of what we saw at full days/hours, so we are seeing an increase but it’s comparable to what we’ve done in the past, if that makes sense. It’s a fantastic thing to see, and we are happy to have our customers/donors back.”
New need for nonprofits: people
Health officials warned from the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic that people with compromised immune systems and the elderly should take extra precautions. Many people who work or volunteer for nonprofits fit in this category, so there is an urgent call for help.
“A fairly high percentage of our volunteers are considered high risk due to their age, medical conditions or have family members who are high risk, so they are choosing to stay at home,” said Director of Volunteer Services at Habitat for Humanity Rachel Eldridge.
In July, 29 volunteers served 540 hours at Habitat’s five stores. That number increased to 42 volunteers who served 881 hours in August. That’s less than 25% of the normal number of volunteers to serve all seven stores, plus Julia’s Cafe.
“We had to reduce the number of volunteers that could work at one time so that they could physically distance,” Eldridge said. “For example, just one cashier volunteer instead of two and one book scanner instead of two standing side by side.”
Kathy Templeman, one of those new volunteers working in the Wendover Road ReStore, started Tuesday.
“I decided to volunteer because of all the good things Habitat does,” Templeman said.
The retired advertising executive has lived in Charlotte for 35 years and retired two years ago.
“I have chosen to volunteer at this time because I know they are short on volunteers. My husband volunteers at the Pineville location and enjoys it. I promised myself last year I would volunteer in some way. Some of my volunteering projects are not available due to COVID-19, so I thought this would be a good time to volunteer at one of the ReStores,” Templeman said.
Despite the potential risk, Templeman said she is not concerned.
“I am most looking forward to the interaction with others, both staff and customers,” Templeman said.
This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 11:06 AM.
