4 Reasons to Make Red Cross Donations a Priority
It?s always important to give back to society. You might enjoy volunteering time at a homeless shelter, or maybe you spend Saturdays volunteering at a local humane society. One way that we can all give back on an annual basis is through donations to charities like the American Red Cross. Red cross donations can be a variety of items from clothes to household items and products. On any given day, you can probably walk through your home or apartment and put together a bag of items you?re no longer using or you?ve never used and make a plan to donate them.
In America today, 70 percent of people donate something to a charity each year. Whether they donate clothes or house items, they make an effort to give back in some way. Need some more reasons to make used clothing donations and other Red Cross donations a priority? Keep reading for four reasons why American Red Cross donations are important.
1. Give Clothes Away, Don?t Throw Them Away
If you made an effort to donate your clothes rather than throw them away, you would help others and produce less waste. In a year, Americans purchase 20 billion garments. For one person, that boils down to 68 garments and 7 pairs of shoes. Now, think about all those clothes being thrown away a couple months or years down the line. It?s wasteful and unnecessary. The EPA has determined that one person throws away 10 pounds of clothes each year. Make a commitment to donate those 10 pounds of clothes this year.
2. Help The Homeless
When donating to charities, you?re helping many different groups of people, one being the homeless. As of 2015, there were 564,708 homeless people in the U.S. alone. Out of that number, 15 percent are considered ?chronically homeless?. You might not have the means to make financial contributions to the homeless and maybe you don?t have the time to donate, but you can always donate your gently used clothes and household items. It?s important to find a way to help those who are less fortunate than you.
3. Support Red Cross
While it?s important to give back to the homeless, it?s also necessary to recognize and help charities like the Red Cross. By giving Red Cross donations, you are helping this charity stay afloat so they can meet their goals. It?s ranked the 13 largest charity in the United States, and the American Red Cross works hard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to help families and communities in need. They do so by providing blankets, food, blood and shelter to those in need. Be part of the solution by making your clothes donations and household items donations to charities like the Red Cross so they can keep helping those less fortunate. Make it a goal to donate a certain number of items or a certain number of times each year so that you can stay on top of your commitment.
4. It?s Easy To Donate
At the end of the day, it?s just as easy to donate your used clothes and household items as it is to toss them in the trash. There?s plenty of locations to make your Red Cross donations. If you use GreenDrop, there are now 30 free-standing locations. These locations gather 100 tons of donations every week. You can also put together clothing donation drives with your neighborhood, church or community to get everyone involved in the process. Doing a drive like this keeps everyone committed, excited and on top of gathering and making Red Cross donations.
Don?t let another year go by without making a goal to start donating to charities regularly. It?s an easy and great way to give back to those less fortunate and to create less waste. Have you made donations recently to American Red Cross? Let us know in the comments what your experience is making donations to charities.
