Do you throw away items that you may not find a need for anymore but still work? Or want to help the homeless but are low on cash? As the saying goes "One man's trash is another man's treasure," here are 7 inexpensive items you can donate to help:
1: SOCKS
Socks are one of the most underrated and least given gifts you could give to a home/houseless person. As a person who has been in and out of houselessness, I can testify to the importance of socks when you are home/houseless. When you have $7, you feel silly spending it on 1 or 2 pairs of socks, when that same amount can buy a full meal. Of course, almost everyone knows how good it feels to put on a fresh pair of socks but when your feet are soaking wet or freezing cold, socks can be a life line. One common occurrence that happens when you are homeless is boot rot also known as trench foot. Boot rot (trench foot, jungle rot) is a medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary, and cold conditions, which causes symptoms ranging from peeling skin to open ulcers and blisters to full-on gangrene resulting in amputation and/or death. The only preventive for this horribly painful condition is keeping your feet warm, dry, and clean, which is impossible to achieve without clean socks.
2: FOOD
Besides food being necessary for human survival, the feeling of someone bringing you food after you've had a really hard day, can mean the world to someone. Whether you get fast food, make it at your own house, you just happen to have food left over from the restaurant you were at, whatever it is, someone will be grateful for it and it'll make their day. A surprising amount of people who are home/houseless are actually vegan/vegetarian or have food allergies, so don't think just because you only have vegan/non-dairy/vegetarian option that someone won't want it. Home/houseless people are not picky when it comes to food. I've picked cigarette butts out of an fried onion container to eat the onions, your quinoa salad will be fine for a hungry person. Another way you can help is if you work at any stores like Walmart, Whole Foods, or any other store that throws away food before or during the expiration date, it would be extremely helpful and kind of you if instead of putting the food in the dumpster itself, to put it near it or on top of the dumpster if it's still edible. My friends and I have talked about the fact that there is always edible food inside the dumpsters that the workers could have just left out, so we don't have to jump in and dig for it. The only difference putting the food on top of it instead of inside, is lowering the risk of someone getting very ill from eating it. Putting the food inside a garbage can or dumpster will not stop people from eating it, it will just stop them from eating clean food.
3: CAMPING GEAR
When I say camping gear that kind of covers a whole range of items, there are so many things you might have stored away in your attic or basement from a camping trip you took one time and you're never going to use again. Some extremely useful things can include sleeping bags, tarps, ropes, backpacks, compasses, flashlights,, canteens, road flares, small pots and pans, lighters, cooking utensils, multi-tools, fire starters, there are nearly endless amounts of items that could be so useful to someone else. With a small pot, a road flare, a shopping cart, and some cans of food, me and my friends were able to make a full hot meal for multiple people. The innovation and creativity requires to survive through homelessness is insane, so don't think that just because you think it's a small thing or because you might not use it or haven't found a use for it, that won't be used for a good purpose later on by someone else. If it has tears in it, we can sew. If it's broken or a little busted, we can fix it. Don't feel just because it's not in pristine condition, that someone won't want it. They're not picky.
4: OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICINE/FIRST AID ITEMS
I can't even count the amount of times that I would have loved to have an aspirin, ibuprofen, some headache medicine or even a Band-Aid, and an especially helpful one for women; tampons and pads, which are nearly impossible to find when you're home/houseless. Besides the major injuries that happen from being homeless, thee are lots of minor injuries that happen often like falling trying to find a spot to sleep, maybe getting in fights, having to sleep on rocks or concrete, or general headaches from stress. Even though a lot of these are inevitable, first aid can be extremely helpful. Often times when you try going to a doctor or hospital they won't treat you, so the importance of just giving people the little things like nausea medicine, hand sanitizer, iodine, gauze, and other items like that can mean a lot to someone who's be hurt and prevent further injury.
5: CLOTHES
Clothes are a little easier to come by than some of the other items on this list, mostly thanks to the help of lovely people who leave free boxes outside their homes or on the side of the street. For those who don't know what the free box is, it's just a box that says free and people will put their donated items and clothes in it, and put it on the street to give it away to whoever needs it. Donating to large corporations like Goodwill and Salvation Army may seem like the right thing to do, and they can be helpful for lower income people, however it still does not contribute to the even lower class of people that can't even afford to shop at Goodwill or Salvation Army. Some of the items they sell can still cost quite a bit of money; for a financially well-off person $30 for a jacket is a great deal, for a low income person, its expensive, but for a home/houseless person, it's impossible. If you have some items of clothes that you feel like you want to actually get to homeless people and people that actually can't afford pants, coats, and shirts, you're going to have to actually give that to them on the street or by leaving it in a box if you don't want to actually have contact with them. As with the camping gear and most other things that you give homeless people, if it's a little ripped or has a stain on it, most likely they're not going to care, and even if they do care they will leave it and someone else who doesn't will come pick it up. Don't worry about something looking a little weird, or something being wrong with the fabric. It doesn't matter.
6: GIFT CARDS
If you've ever had a gift card for a place with like $5 or $10 left on it and you knew you weren't ever gonna spend it, or it's to little of an amount to buy anything at that store, this is an opportunity to use it. That few dollars left over on your gift card might make a meal for someone, it might get them socks, it might get them a book, what little amount that you might have in that card that will sit in your wallet and you'll forget about later, will definitely make a difference in the day of someone who really needs it. Even for places you think might not be useful the home/houseless people like bookstores, health food stores, bike shops, camping stores, really anywhere can be useful and be made into an opportunity for someone who needs it. And even if it's for a place where you might not be able to afford something with that $5, the person you give it to might be able to sell it to someone who could add money to that gift card and actually get something out of it.
7: ART SUPPLIES
This is something that's more dependent on the person, their skills, creativity, what they like to do in general and their hobbies. However, donating art supplies to a homeless person or people is a great way to give them an opportunity to actually make money because whatever are they can create can later be sold, so you're actually in a way, giving them a job. Some examples of art supplies that are really useful include art wire, pliers, crystals, beads, string, earring hooks, paint, markers, paper, journals, and pens. These and more can all be super entertaining when you're having a boring day and also can be a good way to make money. If you have kids who are now bored with all their art stuff that you may have gotten them, or they've outgrown making necklaces or coloring, now you know a place to let those items continue use and not go to waste.
*8: PET FOOD
I had to put that asterisk there and not add it to the seven in the list because not every house/homeless person has a pet. I've been donated huge amounts of dog food before while I had pets and it was so much weight to the point that it was actually hindering us. We could not find other people to give the food away to, and it that had to go to waste. So before you give away pet food, make sure not only that the person owns a pet or is able to give it do a person who owns a pet within a moderate amount of time, but don't give them huge amounts because carrying around 20 to 30 pounds of pet food throughout the day is no easy task. To a person who owns a dog or a cat, a 5-10 pound bag of food or a few cans of pet food (that you don't need a can opener for) are fantastic gift to get and great way for you to donate and help. Remember (with anything, not just food) to always consider the weight of the things that you're giving and as far as quality, whatever you get is fine. If they're really that concerned about the quality of the food, they will still find another person who's pet will eat it.
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