Charitable Donations Are Powerful

Charitable giving is big business in the United States, especially when it comes to charitable donations of clothing. In 2007 alone, about $5.8 billion worth of charitable donations related to clothing were made to charitable foundations in the United States. Charitable donations, particularly charitable clothing donations, can make a big difference in the lives of others and in the environment.

For those choosing to make donations to nonprofit organizations, particularly donations of clothing, there are some very supportive statistics for that choice. Two million tons of textile and clothing were donated to nonprofit organizations in 2011 in the United States, and 80 percent of these charitable donations go to the needy and toward funding efforts.

You might choose to make charitable donations to help disabled veterans. What could be a better cause? And exactly what is a Purple Heart in the military, you may ask? The Purple Heart is a military decoration given to a wounded soldier or in memory of one who has died in the military. It is given in the name of the President of the United States. Over one million Purple Hearts have been awarded. Of these Purple Heart veterans and other veterans, the unemployment rate can be high. In 2012, among veterans between the ages of 18-24, the unemployment rate was well over 20 percent, a staggering figure. And, in 2013, over 207,000 recent veterans were unable to find work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So, you can see how any charitable donations you might make to support military charities would be more than helpful.

As was mentioned, charitable donations, particularly that of clothing donation, also helps the environment. About 10 pounds of recycled clothing is purchased by Americans each year. This means that, when you donate clothes, you are not only passing it on to someone else in need, it also means that this amount is being kept out of the landfills. It?s a win-win choice. And, toward that effort, Americans recycled and composted about 87 million tons of material in 2012. This is progress.

However, more progress can be made. It is estimated that about 75 percent of solid waste is recyclable and, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates, only about 30 percent is actually recycled. We can all do better. For instance, in addition to charity donations of clothing, if each American recycled a portion of their newspapers, even one tenth, we could save 25 million trees a year. That is a forest.

Things are improving, however, as it is documented that over 95 percent of Americans participate in some form of charitable giving. With the season of giving upon us, consider your charitable donations carefully and act today.