2) Donate to  Little Essentialsat 24 – 15th Street #204 Brooklyn, NY 11215 on Tuesdays from 3:00 – 6:00 PM. (347) 689-2327 Strollers, cribs, breastfeeding pillows, car seats, strollers, mattresses and diapers – (They do not do pickups in the Summer) Will give you a receipt for your taxes Warehouse Drop Off Hours: Tuesdays 3-6pm. Pickup info – see website info@littleessentials.org

3) Evan’s Heavenis a resale shop so they may give you a few dollars for the item. 2111 Bath Avenue (347) 554-8555

Stuffed Animals and Toys in Good Condition

• Life Center of New York 6802 5th Avenue – they also take baby clothes. 718-748-4992 laura@lifecenterny.com        No longer accepting toys.  
• Piece by Piece Thrift Store at 6931- 3rd Avenue accepts most items that people want to donate including: clothing, housewares, toys, books, wedding – no furniture, electronics, hangers, strollers or cribs (because they don’t want liability issues with these items) 347-497-5332
• Reaching Out Community Service 7708 New Utrecht Avenue Brooklyn 11214 718-373-4565  We love this organization because it really helps people in the community. When we stopped in, they were very busy and the people working their were being kind to patrons who visited.  Reaching Out has a fund posted on their website around Thanksgiving to give out turkeys and the fixings to families. 
• The Kensington Family Shelter at 385 McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn accepts toys, clothes, books, everything!
• You can put the toys in a box, print an Amazon Give Back Box label and send it for free to Goodwill. YES!
• Teddy Bear Brigade – send them a box of stuffed animals, they clean them and give them to children in tragedies. They send you a receipt for your taxes. Teddy Bear Brigade 7539 Stage Road Concord, VA 24538 1-877-913-9212
• Salvation Army 6822-3rd Avenue Brooklyn – no longer accepts toys
• Little Essentials 24 – 15th Street #204 Brooklyn, NY 11215 on Tuesdays from 3:00 – 6:00 PM. (347) 689-2327 Strollers, cribs, breastfeeding pillows, car seats, strollers, mattresses and diapers – (They do not do pickups in the Summer) Will give you a receipt for your taxes Warehouse Drop Off Hours: Tuesdays 3-6pm. Pickup info – see website info@littleessentials.org
  
• Evan’s Heaven is a resale shop so they will take them and sell them for low prices to mother’s in the neighborhood. 2111 Bath Avenue (347) 554-8555

**If you have an old video game system or games – call Gotham City Games and see if they will buy it.   GOTHAM CITY GAMES   503 84th Street  917-246-2935

Recycle Paper & Pens – empty the drawer!

Recycle Opened Toiletries

• Good Shepherd Church 74th Street and 4th Avenue – Both new and opened toiletries are accepted – any size. Donna brings the miniature toiletries to people at shelters.

• Bohemian Rose at 8703 3rd Avenue takes used and unused hair products to donate to CHIPS.

• St John’s Bread and Life795 Lexington Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221 (it’s a soup kitchen and they give toiletries to those in need)

• Old Mascara wands are needed for small animals (isn’t that cool?). Wash and put the wand in an envelope and mail to Appalachian Wild P.O. Box 1211 Skyland, NY 28776  (more info and pics: here)   Also collecting mascara wands is: Wildlife Wands  P.O. Box 1586  Southwick, MA 01077

Hair – donate your locks to help a cancer patient

Many people choose to donate hair to Locks of Love  because they want Locks for Love to make wigs for cancer survivors.  Locks for Love sells a lot of the hair it receives to other companies. Some have said that Locks for Love doesn’t charge people who are in a certain income. Some people say that Locks for Love won’t accept their hair because it doesn’t meet the right guidelines (too short, grey, etc)  Snopes investigated and found Locks for Love to be a reliable company

There places accept hair and make wigs for adults or children who have cancer  or need a wig:

Pantene Beautiful Lengths– As of 12/31/18, Pantene has ended this program and is no longer accepting hair.

Business Clothes – Work Clothes

2. Professional attire can be donated to Bottomless Closet 

3, Career Gear takes suits several times a year (see site for dates)– 40 Fulton St, Ste 701, New York, New York 10038

4. Professional work clothes for women is taken at: Dress for Success 32 East 31st Street, New York, New York 10016. They charge $40 to come and pick up your stuff (that’s not good)

5. The Mens Warehouse has a suit drive once a year (in July).  The closest Men’s warehouse is at 1608 Flatbush Avenue or the one at Atlantic Terminal Mall or Shops at Richmond in Staten Island. Find a store here.

6. The Organization 100s Suits for 100 Men takes workwear donations for men –  92 36 MERRICK BLVD, Queens, New York. See here for dropoff places.

7. You can put the clothes in a box, print an Amazon Give Back Box label and send it for free to Goodwill.

Want to Offer Your Neighbors Items to Come Pick Up?   Join this Facebook Group here.

Clothing

• Pickup Please – Fill out the form online and they will come and pick up your bags. Money goes to Veteran’s.

• St Mary’s Church will pick up and provide you a receipt for your taxes- call 718-529-6070 OR 718-529-7825 (located at 230 Classon Avenue in Brooklyn) You can just leave the clothes in bags on you stoop and they will pick up during the day
• The Kensington Family Shelter at 385 McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn accepts clothes, toys, books & everything!
• United War Veteran’s Council. 1-888-821-8982

• CAMBA Woman’s Shelter – Park Slope Women’s Shelter   1402 Eighth Avenue  Brooklyn, NY 11215    718-369-7226

• World Harvest Community Center(formerly the Bay Ridge Christian Center) 6324 7th Avenue accepts food, children and adults clothing and blankets. At a Bay Ridge meeting in January 2017, they said they distribute to 200+ people in Red Hook on Saturday mornings. No pickups.

• You can put the clothes in a box, print an Amazon Give Back Box label and send it for free to Goodwill.

• In The Trinity Korean Methodist Church 2870 – 86th Street – collects clothing, books, electronics and housewares.  See here718-266-3707

• Amazon started Project Give Back Box  – You can take your used Amazon boxes, fill them with clothes to donate, print a label and bring it to the Post Office or have UPS pick it up. Amazon and Goodwill are teaming up to use empty shipping boxes and get rid of the clutter filling homes with the Give Back Box program. After removing items from the Amazon box, a user fills it with clothes, accessories and other items you want to donate and then visits GiveBackBox.com to print a free shipping label. The box can be dropped off at the post office or UPS or picked up.Donations go to the closest Goodwill participating in the Give Back Box program.
• Only in the Winter – Coat Drive – NY Cares has drop off locations for coats in Bay Ridge (go here to find other areas to dropoff)

• Salvation Army – drop off at 6822-3rd Ave, Brooklyn (718)833-6894 – they take clothes, small electronics & housewares and will also provide you with a receipt for a tax write off. There is a box outside of the Salvation Army during the week to accept dropoffs (not there on the weekend).

• The Holy Cross Brooklyn Outreach Center – drop off adult clothing and shoes at the church – 8401 Ridge Boulevard). The Outreach members distribute food and clothing to the homeless each month. 718-836-3510

• Union Church 7915 – 3rd Avenue (718) 745-0438 they take professional clothing (suits) for people transitioning from prison.

• Maternity Clothes and baby clothes– Donate to the Life Center of NY – 6802 5th Avenue 718-748-4992 It’s the brick building on the corner and they have a sign for AAA Pregnancy Services. They provide counseling and help to young women with unplanned pregnancies Will give a tax deductible receipt.

They are no longer accepting clothing.
• Bottomless Closet NYC accepts women’s professional clothing, shoes, purses, jewelry, unopened shapeware and unopened makeup to help low income women get back to work.  No t-shirts or activeware. You can fill out this formto get a label to put on a box to send to them.
• Baby clothes to CAMBA 1402 8th Avenue, Brooklyn 11215 718-369-7226 – this is a women’s shelter that could use baby clothes.

• Baby and toddler clothes, as well as baby equipment can be donated on Tuesdays from 12- 3:30pm at Alba House (for needy mothers) Alba House (for Needy Mothers) – 2187 Victory Blvd. Staten Island Phone: 718-698-3857 Contact: Richie Martin needymothers@aol.com
• CHIPS Soup Kitchen in Downtown Brooklyn 200 Fourth Avenue 718-237-2962 accepts seasonal clothing (coats in the winter), men’s boots, see here
• In Sheepshead Bay, there is a shelter for mothers with children that accepts clothing donations – Bay Family Center 3154 Emmons Avenue (sometimes people are traveling in that area and it’s easy to dropoff there)
• Walgreens Parking lot – corner of 95th and 3rd Avenue. This one is run by this group. (If you don’t like those boxes, then don’t use them – that one is legal and helps me keep my house clean)
• If you have a lot of kids clothes or lost weight and have a lot of good clothes in one size, put it on freecycle. Some people who could use them items will come and get them. When I get a response, I tell the person I will leave the clothes in a bag on my stoop because I am not big on meeting strangers at my home

Wedding Dresses

• Peace by Piece Thrift Store at 6931- 3rd Avenue accepts wedding dresses and accessories. 347-497-5332
• Wedding Dresses– Salvation Army drop off at 6822-3rd Ave, Brooklyn (718)833-689 Places in NYC that use wedding dresses help others
• Angel Gown – This organization turns wedding gowns into gowns for babies and gives them to hospitals for babies who passed away. See here.    Sometimes that organization has a wait list to accept gowns because they don’t have room to store them. If you can’t wait,  this woman is accepts wedding gowns to do the same. This woman also  listed other seamstresses who are accepting wedding dresses to turn into angel gowns.
• Adorned in Grace – funds used to prevent human trafficking.

Prom Dresses 

• Peace by Piece Thrift Store at 6931- 3rd Avenue accepts prom dresses. 347-497-5332
• Fort Hamilton, FDR and Telecommunications will start collecting in March

• March 2019 ONLY (they do not collect year round):  Good Shepherd Church in Bay Ridge 7420 4th Avenue  will collect prom clothes (dresses and formal wear) for the Norwegian Christian Home to have a prom for the senior citizens.  Isn’t that cool?

• Prom Dresses and Bridesmaid dresses, purses and occasion shoes -(In March and only to early May) this church collects good, fresh looking items! If you are after this date, hold the dress for next year, they have been doing it every year.

• March 1st – March 31st only – Prom Collection at DG Rockers – 7207 Fort Hamilton Parkway
  

• Prom Dresses and Suits are being collected Downtown Brooklyn

Books

1)  Peace by Piece Thrift Store at 6931 3rd Avenue (at Ovington) accepts books

2) Little Free Libraries for children:

• 550 – 72nd Street has a Little Library – See here  (between 5th and 6th Avenue)
  

• There is the Children’s Lending Book Box at 653 52nd Street. You can put the books in the box or you can leave a bag near the door (walk quietly inside gate so the dog doesn’t start barking).

2) Donate your child’s gently loved books and magazines to the waiting room at Maimonides Infants and Children’s Medical Center. There is no pick-up  for donated books; you must drop them off in person 4802 10th Avenue Brooklyn. For more information, contact the Department of Volunteer Services at 718-283-3980, or call 718-283-7156 Monday-Friday from 9 am-1 pm to speak to the person in charge of book donations.

3)  Fort Hamilton Senior Center on Fort Hamilton Parkway 9941 – Fort Hamilton Parkway (closed on Sunday)  9 am – 5 pm on all other days

4) Bensonhurst Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare 1740 – 84 Street (near 17th Avenue) 718-885-8484

5) Not accepting now during Covid.   Bookmarke Shoppe 8415 3rd Avenue  They have a used book section for $1.00 and the money goes to charity. 

6) E and J Store at 7001 Fort Hamilton Parkway takes used books and sells them for $1.00 each. They give them to Veterans for free. Theu are open Tuesday – Sunday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm 

7)  Books through Bars NYC    gives books to prisoners

8) If these are regular books (not textbooks) that adults or children like to read, leave them in a small box outside of your gate with a note that says ‘Free – Take Some.’ I do this several times a year and there is never a book left. People even ask me when I will be purging next because everyone likes to get a free book.  Lee doesn’t like when I do this because he doesn’t like things put out on the street like garbage, but most times he doesn’t know because the books are taken  so quickly.  

9) The Trinity Korean Methodist Church 2870 – 86th Street – collects clothing, books, electronics and housewares.  See here  718-266-3707

8) The main branch of the library at 10 Grand Army Plaza (see info here) accepts used books – branches in Bay Ridge no longer accept books because of issues with bed bugs.

9) Big Reuse in the old Pathmark by Lowes takes used books.

10) St. Francis College Library at 180 Remsen Street is collecting gently used books for babies, children and teens (no religious books, encyclopedias or books missing pages). Books are being donated to the Brooklyn Book Bodega.

11) Housing Works in Park Slope 424 7th Avenue  929-314-2150    will take 2 bags of books per person per day.

12)HousingWorks 126 Crosby Street  New York, NY   212-334-3324  accepts book donations – they have a cafe where people read and buy. 

13) Books Through Bars– for prisoners. No hard cover books. These are the type of books they need. Dropoff at Freebird Books 23 Columbia Street Brooklyn, NY

Housewares

• Piece by Piece Thrift Store at 6931- 3rd Avenue accepts housewares. 347-497-5332
• Salvation Army at 6822-3rd Avenue Brooklyn 718-833-6894. There are bins during the week to accept dropoffs (not there on the weekend). 
• The Trinity Korean Methodist Church 2870 – 86th Street – collects clothing, books, electronics and housewares.See here 718-266-3707
• CHIPS Soup Kitchen in Downtown Brooklyn 200 Fourth Avenue 718-237-2962 accepts pots and pans, kitchen tools and gadgets, cleaning supplies, dinnerware and flatware (no pickup – just dropoff)

Furniture

• Out of the Closet Thrift Store at 475 Atlantic Avenue picks up furniture if you have 2 or more pieces call 1-800-558-8220 or fill out the form.
• Contact the Salvation Army to pickup. This takes time – not immediate. 
• Join Bay Ridge Swappies Household Furniture and Donate or Sell it there . We usually post our stuff on craigslist and leave the item inside our gate for the person. We have put furniture outside the gate with a note that says FREE and people have taken it in less than 10 minutes. 
• Housing Works picks up furniture   
• Pick Up Please comes to get furniture – Vietnam Vets – can schedule a pickup within 24 hours

Large Appliances – Refrigerators, Stoves, etc.

• The Big Reuse accepts and picks up many donations from people Monday through Friday as well  718-732-4143.  The items are then  sold in their store.  See website for alist of items they don’t take.  You can also ask them by e-mail: donate@bigreuse.org  They also give you a donation letter for your taxes.

Old Piano, Instruments or Art Materials

1.   Material for the Arts Direct Donation – info. Email or call about items being picked up. donations@mfta.nyc.gov718-729-2171.

Medicine and Medical Supplies

1.  The 68th Police Precinct has a medicine drop for residents to drop off medicine any time. The address is 333 65th Street.

2. The DEA has named these stores as places to return medicine. If you live somewhere other than Bay Ridge, you can go here and search for other stores to return medicine.

3.  Medical supplies such as bandages and diabetes supplies – Our Lady of Angels Food Pantry accepts these items. 718-680-6344. Wednesdays from 9:30 am – 1:30 pm.

4. These organizations collect usable medical equipment and supplies and medicines, for distribution in areas with medical emergencies or in developing nations. Check their websites for information about the equipment and supplies they accept and for drop-off locations:

Electronics – Old Computers, cell phones, small televisions, fans, vacuums& cables – you can’t place computers and televisions out with the garbage ($100 fine). Before the pandemic, the city would allow you to call 311 and have electronics picked up. That program has been cancelled. 

1) Staples on 93rd Street and 5th Avenuetakes up to 6 old computers/monitors/keyboards/old cell phones per day. If your device has no trade-in value, you can still recycle it along with old, unwanted office technology products at Staples. Even if it is not working,m they take it. No cost to you — any brand, any condition, even if you purchased it somewhere else.

2) Best Buy store allows you to drop off up to three electronics per day (desktop computers, laptops, small electrics, fans, vacuums and rechargeable batteries).

No large televisions, disassembled tvs or monitors, refrigerators or air conditioners.

*$25 fee for televisions or two old computer monitors (yes, they started to charge for this)  For  $100, Best Buy will haul two large appliances (Each additional appliance is $20).

3)Gowanus E-Waste Warehouse – dropoff at 469 President Street in Brooklyn

4) CHIPS Soup Kitchen in Downtown Brooklyn 200 Fourth Avenue 718-237-2962 accepts working air conditioners (no pickup – just dropoff) 

 5) Globetops will pick up laptops for students to reuse.

Crayons and Markers

• Send your unwanted crayons to Crazy Crayons. They melt them down and make new crayons.  
• Markers can be returned through Crayola’s program – they can be any type of dried out marker (not just Crayola) see here for info.

Legos

• Brick Recycler accepts takes donated Legos and gives them to orphanages overseas. If you have 15 pounds or more, they will reimburse you for the shipping.

Bikes

• Spokes Of Hope in Staten Island, Shawn fixes them up and them to anyone who needs one. 

• Donate a bike to  bike.nyc

Cars and Trucks

• In July 2017, we donated our very old car to St. Vincent’s. The process was fast and easy. We called the number and arranged a time for them to pick it up. They brought a tow truck, but our car ran. They removed the plates and the registration sticker. Jim Shea gave us a paper saying he was taking the car and told us that we would receive a paper for our taxes in a week. They give a donation to St. Patrick’s Church (other churches in the area also do this – like St. Anselm).  We gave Jim the title and the keys. It took about 10-15 minutes to do.  
• More info about St. Vincent De Paul  here: https://www.svdpauto-brooklynqueens.org
• Kars4Kids.org
• American Cancer Society
• Make A Wish