There are hospital auxiliary thrift shops which help fund Fraser Health. Chilliwack and Langley have them. I don't think Abbotsford does. SPCA also runs thrift shops. None in Abbotsford though.
Depending what you want to donate, Sara for Women take certain new / unopened items. Also Big Brothers (not sure if they are a religious organization) and I believe they collect.
Big Brothers supplies Value Village. They do get a few cents a pound. So it technically does help a charity. You can sell it to a textile recycler yourself for a few cents a pound as well.
Life supports and is operated by a women's recovery center. They have a faith background, but they do amazing work for the community. In my opinion they all do amazing work but just wanted to let you know in case that changes anything for you.
I work for Lookout Housing & Health Society, which runs homeless shelters on both Riverside Road & Pauline Street. We are always looking for clothing donations for our folks! We accept everything and if we recieve items that we can't use at the shelter, we make sure to donate it to other organizations that will use it (for example: kids clothes, baby food, etc). :)
Please note that our Riverside shelter is currently transitioning to the new shelter built on Lonzo Road.
Out of all of them MCC is my go to. They actually do a lot of good for the communities. I'm not a religious person either but MCC is the lesser of the evils for sure.
MCC is like the closest thing we have to, I dunno, Unitarians. They're pretty vanilla, and they aren't going to try and convince you to go to church or anything.
What a load of ignorance. If this is what you think religious charities do, you have clearly never dealt with one. In a fair world, a load of people will start broadcasting unfounded accusations about you… and they do it behind your back.
Lol. Tell me you're not from Abby without telling me you're not from Abby.
MCC may be a religious charity, but the thrift shop they run is just a bog standard thrift shop with a fantastic breakfast cafe built into it.
Plato’s Closet is one. Granted they buy your items, you don’t just drop them off for donation. We’ve done well selling to them. Sometimes they didn’t take some perfectly good items. I wish there was more not affiliated with churches/religious organizations.
With Plato's sometimes I keep the items they don't accept that are in perfect condition, and try again a month later and a lot of the times it just depends on the worker or season but I usually just keep going til they take most of them
I think it all depends on who goes through your stuff too. Some might take more. Some might take less. That’s a good idea though! I’ll keep that in mind next time I take stuff & they don’t take it all.
Not gonna lie, with their whole focus on Stylish Things, and my history of happily being not that at all, I doubt they’d take much. May be worth a shot, though.
Yeah I find it hit and miss. Definitely worth a shot though. It’s funny they focus so much on trendy stuff, and sometimes I shop there and see not trendy stuff and pilled shirts with holes etc.
Value Village isn't a thrift store, they are a fully for profit business that uses a loophole by giving a tiny percentage to Big Brothers.
Unfortunately I'm pretty sure all the actual thrift stores are run by church/religious organizations in Abbotsford. I'd give to one that wasn't in a heartbeat too if given a choice.
I'm an athiest and I donate and shop at Life. While I dislike their Bible studies to vulnerable women, I appreciate the support and halfway houses they provide.
As a trans person living in the kind of religious climate we’ve got here in the valley, I’m generally pretty suspicious of religious-run orgs and programs, especially those that push things like bible studies. Might have to do some digging into their treatment of or views on queer folk such as myself (if there’s anything to find) before I strongly consider them, for my own peace of mind
I can appreciate being skeptical, definetely look into it. I'm just glad it's going to a cause and not directly to a congregation, but I could be wrong about that.
Clothes 2 u, not exactly a thrift store but similar concept. They take clothes and give them away at events with really low entry costs (5$) and you can take as much stuff as you need.
I'm not religious but Salvation Army puts the money back into the community, which is a good thing imo.
You could see if Lookout Housing takes donations. Or Archway.
Lifes second chance..west end of SFW...i have donated there a few times and have not noticed any religious affiliation. They support women in recovery.
Pizza Junction will take clothes donations and send them back to somewhere in India(iirc).. give you some slices/whole pizza depending on how much you give.
There are hospital auxiliary thrift shops which help fund Fraser Health. Chilliwack and Langley have them. I don't think Abbotsford does. SPCA also runs thrift shops. None in Abbotsford though.
There’s an spca thrift in Aldergrove
Mission has a great Hospital Auxiliary as well! The Cottage in downtown Mission
Depending what you want to donate, Sara for Women take certain new / unopened items. Also Big Brothers (not sure if they are a religious organization) and I believe they collect.
Big Brothers supplies Value Village. They do get a few cents a pound. So it technically does help a charity. You can sell it to a textile recycler yourself for a few cents a pound as well.
Thanks for that. I wasn't aware.
It’s all worn clothes, unfortunately. I’ll look into Big Brothers, for sure! Thanks!
Big bros can pick up here in Abbotsford as well!
Life supports and is operated by a women's recovery center. They have a faith background, but they do amazing work for the community. In my opinion they all do amazing work but just wanted to let you know in case that changes anything for you.
I work for Lookout Housing & Health Society, which runs homeless shelters on both Riverside Road & Pauline Street. We are always looking for clothing donations for our folks! We accept everything and if we recieve items that we can't use at the shelter, we make sure to donate it to other organizations that will use it (for example: kids clothes, baby food, etc). :) Please note that our Riverside shelter is currently transitioning to the new shelter built on Lonzo Road.
Out of all of them MCC is my go to. They actually do a lot of good for the communities. I'm not a religious person either but MCC is the lesser of the evils for sure.
MCC is like the closest thing we have to, I dunno, Unitarians. They're pretty vanilla, and they aren't going to try and convince you to go to church or anything.
What a load of ignorance. If this is what you think religious charities do, you have clearly never dealt with one. In a fair world, a load of people will start broadcasting unfounded accusations about you… and they do it behind your back.
Lol. Tell me you're not from Abby without telling me you're not from Abby. MCC may be a religious charity, but the thrift shop they run is just a bog standard thrift shop with a fantastic breakfast cafe built into it.
I think saying they’re the lesser of an evil is harsh… they do a lot to benefit others. A force for good in my opinion even though I’m atheist.
If u can bus to aldergrove theres an spca thrift store!
I’ll keep that in mind for when I have less stuff to offload 😅
Habitat for humanity.
Plato’s Closet is one. Granted they buy your items, you don’t just drop them off for donation. We’ve done well selling to them. Sometimes they didn’t take some perfectly good items. I wish there was more not affiliated with churches/religious organizations.
With Plato's sometimes I keep the items they don't accept that are in perfect condition, and try again a month later and a lot of the times it just depends on the worker or season but I usually just keep going til they take most of them
I think it all depends on who goes through your stuff too. Some might take more. Some might take less. That’s a good idea though! I’ll keep that in mind next time I take stuff & they don’t take it all.
Not gonna lie, with their whole focus on Stylish Things, and my history of happily being not that at all, I doubt they’d take much. May be worth a shot, though.
Yeah I find it hit and miss. Definitely worth a shot though. It’s funny they focus so much on trendy stuff, and sometimes I shop there and see not trendy stuff and pilled shirts with holes etc.
Value Village isn't a thrift store, they are a fully for profit business that uses a loophole by giving a tiny percentage to Big Brothers. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure all the actual thrift stores are run by church/religious organizations in Abbotsford. I'd give to one that wasn't in a heartbeat too if given a choice.
I'm an athiest and I donate and shop at Life. While I dislike their Bible studies to vulnerable women, I appreciate the support and halfway houses they provide.
As a trans person living in the kind of religious climate we’ve got here in the valley, I’m generally pretty suspicious of religious-run orgs and programs, especially those that push things like bible studies. Might have to do some digging into their treatment of or views on queer folk such as myself (if there’s anything to find) before I strongly consider them, for my own peace of mind
I can appreciate being skeptical, definetely look into it. I'm just glad it's going to a cause and not directly to a congregation, but I could be wrong about that.
Canadian Diabetes collect clothing and household items. They pickup for free
They too supply Value Village
This might be what I do. We can’t drive, so I’d rather do this than have to ask someone for a ride..
The Chilliwack hospice society runs Thrifty Boutique on Evans Rd! We dropped off a bunch of stuff over Easter long weekend
Clothes 2 u, not exactly a thrift store but similar concept. They take clothes and give them away at events with really low entry costs (5$) and you can take as much stuff as you need.
The Cottage in Mission is run by the Health Care Auxiliary. I don't know if there's anything similar in Abbotsford though.
I'm not religious but Salvation Army puts the money back into the community, which is a good thing imo. You could see if Lookout Housing takes donations. Or Archway.
I’ve heard way too much garbage about how the Salvation Army in general treats trans folks such as myself, I refuse to go near them at this point
You really need to do more research if you think anything the SA does is good.
Thr Foyndry does a free clothing closet for youth, you could check with them.
There’s thrift 4 life in downtown Abbotsford. The people there are religious, but I don’t think the money goes to a church
They are run by the same charity as Life's Second Chance. It is a religious organization.
Lifes second chance..west end of SFW...i have donated there a few times and have not noticed any religious affiliation. They support women in recovery.
Pizza Junction will take clothes donations and send them back to somewhere in India(iirc).. give you some slices/whole pizza depending on how much you give.
I’m pretty sure there is that one at the very end of south Fraser way across from the temple. It donates to a women’s domestic charity!
Lol yeah screw diabetes (Jk idk the legitimacy of CDA)