Make a Positive Impact within Your Community by Making Clothing Donations to Veterans Charities
Most Americans engage in some sort of charitable giving. Whether they make clothing donations or donations of household items, their efforts make a difference in the lives of so many individuals. When donations are made to organizations that help military families, such as The Military Order of the Purple Heart, they assist these organizations with providing much-needed services.
Currently, there are an estimated 1.7 million individuals that have received a Purple Heart. This military decoration is awarded by the president to men and women that have been wounded or died in the service of their country.
When veterans return home, many are unable to obtain employment. In 2012, for example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate for veterans was 2% higher than the national average. For those veterans between the ages of 18 to 24, the unemployment rate was even higher at 20.4%. By 2013, roughly 207,000 recent veterans were unable to obtain employment.
When donations are made to organizations that help military families, approximately 80% of the proceeds are used for funding educational and other type of programs. In addition to program funding, this percentage includes giving clothes, household textiles, and other necessary household goods to needy families.
The Council for Textile Recycling reported that 25 billion pounds of new textiles are created on an annual basis, and 85% of these textiles eventually end up in landfills. Every year, approximately 12 million tons of clothing and textiles are literally thrown away.
Furthermore, research shows that on average, a single individual may throw away as much as 82 pounds of household textiles and clothing. When considering that the average person also generates 4.5 pounds of trash on a daily basis, it is not surprising the United States’ landfills are overflowing.
Since a large percentage of these items can be worn again or repurposed, it makes sense to donate them to veterans charities. In addition to helping military families in need, donating, rather than throwing these items away, makes a positive impact on the environment and the community.
It doesn’t require much effort to gather unused clothing and household textiles for donation. These items can be conveniently picked up by GreenDrop.
