Were you aware that Americans purchase approximately 20 billion clothing items, including shoes, every year? On average, this means that every person in the United States buys 68 items of clothing and seven pairs of shoes a year.
While many individuals may store all of these clothes and shoes, the Environmental Protection Agency indicates that on average, Americans actually throw away approximately ten pounds of clothes on an annual basis. Rather than throwing these clothes away, they could be donated to clothing donation centers that benefit the American Red Cross.
Most people have heard of the American Red Cross. They provide valuable services to families and communities each and every day of the year. In addition to their well-known blood drives and blood banks, they also help individual families and communities by providing warm food, safe shelter, and clean blankets.
You may be interested to know that during 2014, the American National Red Cross was the 13th largest charity in the United States. This was due to their receiving $687 million in private donations. A recent survey showed that 63% of high-net-worth donors are motivated to donate as a means of “giving back to the community.”
On an annual basis, the American Red Cross responds to a variety of natural disasters, including home fires. The American Red Cross reports that 90% of the 65,000 disasters to which they respond are home fires. Furthermore, 95% of their disaster relief workers are volunteers rather than paid employees.
In addition to providing life-saving skills training, the American Red Cross also provides training in how to cope with emergency situations. In addition to certified courses, they have tip lists, checklists, and other valuable resources. These can all assist individuals, families, and businesses with knowing what to do before, during, and after an emergency situation.
When you donate clothes to Red Cross, it can assist this charitable organization with providing a variety of services to those in need. You can make used clothing donations as well as donate household items that you no longer need or want.
You may also be interested to know that you can have your donations picked up by GreenDrop. In addition to having a Red Cross pick up, you may also be able to drop off your clothing donations at one of GreenDrop’s free-standing locations. Currently, there are approximately 30 GreenDrop locations available for you to donate clothes to Red Cross.
