Is there a way to donate clothes at WDW? UPDATE - RESULTS - GO TO LAST POST

[melomouse]

Hi - You have a great and generous idea - more visitors should consider it. The recession has hit hard, particularly in Florida

I was thinking that a site called freecycle is all over the country by zip code. When I was moving a year ago, I used it everyday as I cleaned out/threw out/sorted.

You basically post online descriptions ("bag of girl's summer clothes, size 6") - stae the location and time for pick up, and the person will email you back thru the site and confirm.You could do this before you leave home, and have a second or third person lined up if you like. The site explains all of this.

And it feels so good!!! An extra heap of pixiedust to you and your family!

 

[CanadianGuy]

I'm not sure if they take clothing donations, but a phone call would answer the question..

Check with "Give Kids the World" -- www.gktw.org .. If they don't accept such donations I bet they know who does locally.

Moving this thread over to the Community Board.

Thanks,

 

[pixiedustforever]

I think this is a wonderful idea! Very thoughtful and generous!
Anyone wanting to do this type of gesture might want to call
some of the local churches in Lake Buena Vista or Orlando.
They might have food and clothing ministries for these items.
And would probably pick up items left at ... bell services, maybe?

Wonder if Disney would let them do this - everyone would benefit!
Just clean the clothes, first!

"Pixiedustforever"

 

[esdras]

I'll start making phone calls to Disney and some places in the area over the next few days - if I find out anything, I'll post it here.

I was just passing along the compliments regarding the idea to my wife (she gets full credit for this - I had never thought about this either) - and we were talking about how this shouldn't be hard.

I told her about how some here have mentioned unopened food left in DVC villas and how that could be used for charity donations too.

Considering the number of guests who come to Disney each year and PURPOSEFULLY leave space in luggage for souvenirs, or PAY to have things shipped home - shouldn't Disney partner with a charity capable of taking in clean, good condition used clothing and unopened food items that could be beneficial for those in need?

The PR for Disney to do so would be outstanding. If each resort set up a drop-off location for food and clothing donations, and simply had one centralized depot where CM's working at this could take the items picked up from the resorts - then the charity of choice could come to that depot on a regular basis to get the donations. It would require some extra staffing and assigning a building for the purpose of being a depot - but since it would all be clearly used for charitable purposes, I can only imagine that it would be a tax write-off and probably close to a revenue neutral operation for Disney. Even if it cost them a small amount, the goodwill generated from the PR should not be underestimated.

Anyway, that's just what my wife and I thought would be a good idea.

 

[disneydreamgirl]

I would think that Disney would love this idea. I'll be watching for updates in case I can get in on the giving too! We left a quantity of unopened food on our last trip and hoped that housekeeping would use it or take it home.

 

[mom2ike]

Check out Hope Children's Home in Tampa. The home would gladly take your items.

 

[esdras]

Check out Hope Children's Home in Tampa. The home would gladly take your items.

Thanks - I checked their website, but the request for donations didn't mention clothing - mainly cash donations.

Unfortunately, we're flying directly to Orlando and using DME - no rental car. Getting to Tampa isn't possible - and it doesn't look as though they'll come to get donations. We're hoping to arrange a donation to a group that does pickups (as I mentioned earlier, the Vietnam Veterans of America does this in the WDW area), and that the resort will allow for the group to come onsite to get the clothing.

 

[esdras]

Well, I called today. We'll be staying at ASMu, so I contacted that resort first - the CM transferred my call to a central resort office (I assume this was the case, since the person asked what resort I would be staying at), and I spoke with Alan (sp?) there.

While he said that it was a good idea (so did the CM at ASMu) his suggestion to me (a guest without a personal vehicle) is to speak with the resort conceirge on the day we check-in. Explain that you need to leave the donation at the resort itself, and can anything be done to get it to a charity.

Alan suggested that while this is extremely uncommon (a shame, really ), the conceirge would be able to get the names of some local charities that can pick up donations. We could then pick one we like. Alternatively - and this sounds good too - the conceirge will speak to some of the CM's on staff. Many of them have charities or churches that they value, and Alan mentioned that in the past, some CM's at resorts have been able to take the donation to the charity themselves on behalf of the guest.

Essentially, either option is fine with us - whether a charity comes to get the clothing or one of the CM's takes it for us. As long as it gets to a place where it can do some good, we're happy.

Anyway, it sounds as though it IS possible - even for people using DME and Disney transportation completely and have no personal vehichle. Simply talk to the conceirge when you check in, let them know your departure date, speak with them again sometime between your arrival and departure to see what they have found in terms of charities, and then make the arrangements to drop off your donation on the day you check-out.

While it seems as though there is no official Disney policy on this - it looks like they'll work it out in some way.

 

[disneydreamgirl]

Nice! Thanks for calling and getting some info for all of us! I will add this to my upcoming trip notes.

 

[LuvMickey36]

Don't know if this will help you or not, but our local Salvation Army picks up from our home if we call them. You could always drop them @ the firestation & ask them. They might know of someone who could use them.

 

[brack]

The Orlando area has a large Salvation Army unit which I am sure would love to have you drop them off. Google The Salvation Army Orlando and the first thing that comes up is the "Adult Rehabilitation" program. It is a drug and alcohol program operated by the Salvation Army free of charge to the client. They are the ones who run the thrift stores.

 

[esdras]

The Orlando area has a large Salvation Army unit which I am sure would love to have you drop them off. Google The Salvation Army Orlando and the first thing that comes up is the "Adult Rehabilitation" program. It is a drug and alcohol program operated by the Salvation Army free of charge to the client. They are the ones who run the thrift stores.

Thanks, that will be an option if the conceirge suggests that one of the CM's at the resort will take our donation for us.

If we were driving ourselves or renting a car, this wouldn't be a problem. However, we are flying and using DME and the Disney transportation systems for our entire stay. At no point do we plan on going off-site. We have to rely on the concerige finding us a charity who will come to ASMu to pick up our donation, or arrange for one of the CM's to take it to a charity for us. Apparently, that is possible though.

Thank you for the suggestion regarding the Salvation Army - a very worthwhile charity. If they do pickups, or a CM would drop off our donation, we will definitely consider them.

 

[esdras]

Just thought I would bump this up to let people know the results of donating the clothing.

There were no problems with doing this at all. A couple of days after arrival I went to the registration desk and mentioned my previous call to the resort and what we wanted to do. The CM checked in with the manager and said it would be no problem. She also added that if a different CM questioned us about dropping off the items when it came time to do so - simply tell them that the manager (she gave us his name) said it was okay and that he would make sure it got to a good charity.

Now, they didn't mention which charity, but I'll trust that they donated the clothing.

If we go again in a couple of years, we'll probably do the same thing again.