Doing some home renovations, downsizing, moving or just cleaning up? You might be wondering what to do with the items both large and small that you want to get rid of. Habitat for Humanity ReStores across the GTA are a great place to donate your used items for a good cause. Here’s a handy guide of how to donate to Habitat ReStore locations, what to donate and, perhaps most importantly, why to donate.
What is the ReStore?
Habitat ReStores are social enterprises which accept donations from both individuals and corporations in the community. Funds raised from the sale of these donated items go towards both covering Habitat’s administrative costs and contributing towards the costs of construction projects. This means that 100 per cent of monetary donations to Habitat go into our build projects to help local families, unlike some other charities where financial donations mainly cover administrative costs.
ReStores are actually a Canadian invention — the first one was created by five volunteers in Manitoba back in 1991. Now, there are almost 100 in Canada, and over 1,000 across the world! ReStores support Habitat’s mission of creating more affordable housing in local communities.
ReStores are the perfect place to donate, or shop for, home improvement items, building materials and other things you might not even know you needed in your home. Largely staffed by our friendly ReStore volunteer team, ReStores are a great place to both donate and shop.
There are several Habitat for Humanity affiliates in Ontario, and you can find the one closest to you by identifying your local region and checking out the affiliate’s website to see their locations near you. Habitat for Humanity Halton-Mississauga represents Burlington, Mississauga, Oakville, Milton, Halton Hills and Georgetown.
Habitat for Humanity GTA serves Brampton, Caledon, Toronto, Scarborough and the region of York. Habitat Durham represents Ajax Oshawa and Uxbridge, and Habitat Hamilton serves the region of Hamilton. To find your closest Habitat ReStore, check out Habitat for Humanity Canada’s ReStore locator.
What to donate
Habitat for Humanity ReStores accept a variety of items that you may have in your home. You can donate large used items in good condition, such as home or office furniture including tables and dining sets. ReStores also accept appliances, flooring, windows, doors, kitchen cabinetry and lawn equipment.
You can also donate smaller items to Habitat ReStores, such as home decor items, plumbing supplies. Habitat ReStores also accept clothing donations in the bright blue donation boxes in the parking lots. Check out this blog post to learn more about our clothing donation program.
You can find a full list of accepted donation items on the Habitat ReStore website, as well as a list of items to which we have to say “no thank you.” Before you donate, consider calling ahead to ensure that the item you’d like to donate is accepted in the ReStore.
How to donate
You have a few options for donating items to a Habitat ReStore. One exciting new option for donating is to have your items picked up from your home. You can schedule a free home pickup from your garage, driveway, moving room or from another room inside your home. To arrange your pickup, simply fill out the convenient form on our website. A member of our scheduling team will get back to you within two days after reviewing your items, and then you can move forward with the pickup process.
When you drop off your item, or arrange to have it picked up from your home, you will receive a charitable tax receipt based on the fair market value of the item. If you’re having your item picked up, please indicate on the online form whether or not you’d like a receipt, and ensure both your email address and mailing address are correct.
If you’re specifically looking to donate your kitchen, Habitat also offers a free kitchen removal program. You can schedule your kitchen salvage online by following this link. Or, if your kitchen cabinetry is already disassembled and ready to be picked up, you can also schedule your pickup online.
Why donate?
When you donate to Habitat, you are giving to a charity that is dedicated to achieving its vision of a world where everyone has a safe and decent place to live. Habitat Halton-Mississauga has several upcoming builds where we are looking to scale up our projects and increase our capacity so that we can help more families find a place to call home.
We provide families with the chance to own a home through covering as many of the upfront costs of construction as possible. We are able to accomplish this through individual and corporate donations, including financial donations and Gift-In-Kind donations of materials and services.
When the home is finished, and the Habitat partner family has volunteered their 500 hours of sweat equity, the home is sold to the family through a no interest, long-term mortgage tailored to no more than 30 per cent of their overall income. Then, when the family pays their mortgage back to Habitat, that money goes back into the cycle to purchase land and construction supplies to build more homes for more local families in need of a hand up.
If this sounds like something you’d like to be part of, it can be as simple as donating used furniture, appliances or other items from your home. Of course, in addition to donating items to a ReStore you can also make a one-time or monthly monetary donation as well. As previously mentioned, Habitat guarantees that 100 per cent of your monetary donation goes towards helping families by building affordable, safe and decent homes.
Check out this blog post to read more about the impact of your charitable donation. Your donation may just feel like dropping off an old couch, but the profits generated from the sale of that couch can have real and positive benefits to your community. If you’re cleaning out the place you’re lucky enough to call home, consider donating items so that other people can experience the joys of homeownership. Donate items to a Habitat ReStore today!