Giving Back While Paying Forward Works for Everyone

Some people think that offering their time for the less fortunate or attempting to make a difference in the world requires sacrificing the comfort of their lives or making a big drastic move or gesture. But everyone can make an impact on someone else’s life, even if it is just one moment in one person’s life. By making used clothing donations at places like a Red Cross donation center, the possessions that one person no longer needs can come to the aid of someone who may not be able to afford it otherwise. When you donate clothing and other things for the homeless and those living day-to-day, everyone wins. You clean out your closet and help someone in need, the person on the receiving end has basic needs met without adding to their current hardships, and on top of that, everyone involved helps to save the earth by keeping those items out of landfills.

Making a difference for people and the planet
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, people in the United States throw out an average of 10 pounds of clothing each and every single year! Almost 20 billion garments are consumed each year by Americans, which works out to be 68 pieces of clothing and seven different pairs of footwear for each person. Another way to look at it is that every single person is buying more than one garment each week. Perhaps one thing to step back and consider is what in the world we are doing with so much clothing in the first place, but after that fact, the matter becomes what to do with all of that excess that is no longer getting used.

Giving back and paying it forward
The good news is that in America, 70% of people give to charity annually, and that can easily be translated into going to donate clothes at a Red Cross donation center. And why not volunteer while you’re there?
Many a Red Cross donation center not only accepts clothing donations but other kinds of help as well. And the many additional homeless shelters, donation centers, soup kitchens, and other services for those living without having their basic needs met are set up so that anyone willing can participate in making someone else’s life just a little bit better.

It seems like a no-brainer. Get rid of what you don’t use. Make a difference in someone’s life. Save the planet. It all makes sense. So why not clean out that closet and go find a donation center near you?