What happens to Red Cross donations? The American Red Cross is one of the largest clearing houses for clothing donations in America. Every year, 70% of people in the United States give something to a charity. In fact, 3% of all American income goes to charities every year. Non-profits are more than $666 billion worth of the American economy. With all that giving, you might wonder what happens to Red Cross donations after they leave the donor’s hands.
Some Red Cross Donations Are Resold
Consignment shops and thrift stores are important places for America’s poor to shop. When you donate clothes, some of them end up being sold. The American Red Cross provides blankets, food, blood, and shelter every hour of every day, all year long. Used clothing donations are sold to help fund this charity. Not only do proceeds benefit the charity, but the goods themselves go to benefit people who otherwise could not afford quality clothes.
Some Red Cross Donations are Donated
This is especially true when it comes to the homeless. The United States has a large homeless population. It’s always difficult to keep track of such a transient population, and people drift in and out of the homeless population with regularity. But a 2015 study found that in January of that year there was an average of 564,708 people living on the streets. Given that January is the coldest night of the year, that number is going to be higher during warmer months. A full 15% fo the homeless population are considered to be chronically homeless and unlikely to be able to find clothes without charitable donations.
Some Red Cross Donations Go Abroad
Many donations of clothes and other household textiles end up going abroad. More than 14 million tons of American clothes go internationally to help people across the world every year. These textile deliveries provide jobs in sorting and processing, and the clothes themselves can be either sold cheaply or donated to the needy abroad.
You Probably Need to Find a Clothing Donation Center
People in the United States are consuming about 20 billion pieces of clothing per year. For each person in the country, that’s 68 separate articles of clothing and seven pairs of shoes each year, or more than one piece a week. The EPA has estimates of how much we’re throwing away. The average American tosses 10 pounds of clothing into the trash every year. That clothing ends up in landfills, where it takes up valuable space and creates greenhouse gases.
Don’t waste your clothes, and don’t leave your closets and drawers needlessly cluttered. There are clothing donation pickup centers everywhere, and a Red Cross clothing pickup can be easily arranged for most people. Your clothes go to benefit other people both in the United States and all around the world. Find out where you can donate clothing today, and don’t let another piece of clothing go to waste.
