As the school year comes to a close, GCU has started rolling out the giant donation bins in the lobby of each apartment or dorm building. This is a great idea; it allows students to avoid dumping their unwanted items in the dumpsters and lets organizations like Goodwill keep their stores stocked and ready for customers. But is that your only option for donating your used things? What if you want to make sure that your donations are going to a cause that makes tangible change in Phoenix? Well, luckily for you, there is an abundance of local thrift stores that give back to their community tenfold. Here are 4 thrift stores that would happily make use of your donations!
- Thrift to thrive
-
Thrift to Thrive is a thrift store off Camelback Road that uses their proceeds to help children and families involved with foster care. They are a non-profit and have been deeply involved in the community since 2016. They also offer a lot of resources to kids who have aged out of foster care and are now young adults. Not to mention, there is a full-on coffee shop within the thrift store itself, so you can reward yourself with a sweet treat after dropping off your donations!
- The Assistance league of phoenix
-
The Assistance League is another great organization that is involved with children. Part of their ministry allows them to partner with local schools to make sure kids have enough clothes to wear outside of school. They also provide books and teddy bears, and they have a program that provides layettes (basically a set of clothes for a baby) for new mothers and their babies. Their thrift store is very popular, and it’s no wonder considering they have been helping the community for over 80 years!
- The Arizona Humane Society thrift stores
-
These thrift stores are dedicated to getting enough revenue to financially support the Arizona Humane Society. They accept any gently used donations you might have, and you can definitely rest easy knowing the proceeds are going to a good cause. Who wouldn’t want their donations to help the animals who are currently waiting for a forever home? To make it even easier, they have two different locations, so there are options for you to pick from!
- St. Vincent DePaul
-
St. Vincent’s has a bunch of stores around the Phoenix area (and many more in other areas of Arizona) that work to help support their ministries in the community. They work with volunteers to make sure that people are housed, fed, and physically and mentally cared for. They also started a new initiative this year which aims to house 2,025 people by 2025. They have been active in the community since the 1940s, and they don’t have plans to stop serving anytime soon.
Each of these thrift stores helps support their own ministries, but in the end, they all have the same goal: to improve the lives of people (or pets) in the Phoenix area! If any one of them struck your interest, please consider paying them (or any other charity in Phoenix) a visit; they’d definitely be grateful for any donations you are willing to give!