Charities that Pick Up Items at your Home
Parent Q&A
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Sept 2002
Does anyone know of any charities that will come to the house to pick up stuff? These are things we were going to sell at a garage sale but never got around to having the sale. I used to get a postcard every few months from an organization that helped disabled people and that offered to pick up our unused stuff, but that was a long time ago. Thanks. Rebecca
CARH (California Association for Retarded and Handicapped) can be reached at 1-800-792-2274 for home pick-ups. The items need to be in such condition that they can be re-sold at their store in El Sobrante. They have no facilities for refinishing or repairing items and will leave them behind if they fall outside their guidelines. As there is practically no used kids-clothing store buying our cast-offs since Tiddlywinks closed, CARH is a good option. Into Recycling Too
The Community Assistance for the Retarded and Handicapped calls us about once a month. They come by the house and pickup whatever we leave in front and leave a tax receipt. They don't want big stuff but will take clothing, toys and general household stuff. They sell stuff at Thrift Town on San Pablo Dam Rd., and I admit I haven't checked into them too carefully because sometimes it's really nice to just have the stuff gone. Their phone number is (800)792-2274. We've had the Bay Area Rescue Mission come pickup big stuff like furniture, but they won't come for bags of clothes and toys. We take lots of stuff to the Goodwill trailer at the EC Recylcing Center, but they won;t do pickups. Cathy
CARH (Community Assistance for the Retarded and Handicapped) does household pick ups. Call 1 800 660-6426 or 510 758- 1441. Kathy
United Cancer Research does pickup...1-800-443-4224. The East Bay Depot is a non-profit organization and they also pick up items...510-547-6535. I haven't used either one yet so can't speak to reliability, etc. Kana
I recently had some miscellaneous household items to donate and just couldn't find the time to get to the drop bin. Then an article in the local paper mentioned that the San Leandro Women's Shelter was seeking donations. They have a new 52-apartment facility at the old Alameda Naval Station that's designed to help battered/homeless women and children begin rebuilding their lives. See Building Futures with Women and Children at http://www.bfwc.org or (510) 357- 0205 ext. 107. Apparently the coordinator collects and warehouses the donations. Then families may submit wishlists for items they need. They also have a children's center and community room that need furnishing. The residential manager from BFWC gladly came to our home at our convenience (Sunday morning!) to pick up our donations. I felt so much better knowing that our items were going to someone who could really use them rather than just to a resale shop. --- Joyce
I have donated to the Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale in the past. Check their website to see what things they will not take. You can call and leave a message requesting a pickup and someone will call you back to schedule. I've left things in a stack on my front porch, but they would probably pick up from inside the home if it's organized and ready to go.
Yes. Use Task Rabbit. Just book online. I do this type of job request all the time through them.