Quality of Charitable Donations

Should I wash clothing, make sure they are in good quality condition, and donate only good quality unexpired and undamaged FRESH food when donating to charity???

Jun 20, 2025

Photo: unsplash.com

Happy to have something - anything

Most of the time, no needy person asks about or is concerned with the condition of food and clothing received from charity. They are simply grateful to have something to eat, and something to cover their body with. All they care about is they are hungry and/or cold, and they very much appreciate anything they receive. Does this mean they do not deserve the same quality, dignity, respect, concern, and care that we demand when we shop at Walmart or Nordstrom, or when we eat at Burger King or Mar-A-Lago? No!

Just because they are shopping or eating at a charitable location does not erase our ethical, moral, human, or spiritual obligation to provide said quality and dignity to them. They want the same things we do, they need the same things we do, and they are just as deserving and important as we are. The only difference between them and us is, we already receive all this, and expect it, nay - We demand it. We take these things for granted and believe they always will be because we earned and deserve them.

They on the other hand, only dream of these things, because even though they need, want, and deserve these things every bit as much as us, they never receive them (They are after all “~~Just poor people~~”). Worse; how do we respond to their plight? We say things like “They are just happy to have something, anything”, “it’s free, what more do they expect”? “You get what you pay for” or “you get what you earn” amongst other equally cold-hearted thoughts.

Photo: mygrandeprairienow.com

What do they actually get

What they do get though is far from what they deserve, far from even the quality we provide to prisoners. I myself have gotten clothing that was full of holes, and so dirty they smelled like they had been worn every day for a year and never washed, deli and/or bakery foods with bites out of them and put back into the box, bread already molding, fruits and vegetables already turning bad, potatoes that you can smell the rot through the bag, cereal that when you rip the bag open is so rank it takes your breath away and makes you light headed for 15 minutes just from the smell, cans expired a year or two prior and no labels to even tell you what is in them, cans that have puffed up from bacteria inside them, meat that is so freezer burnt it is grey colored. These are just a few of the charitable experiences these people, these human beings experience every day. These are lives who should matter, do matter just as much as we do.

A little effort goes a long way

How much effort does it take to throw your clothing that you’re giving to charity into the washer and dryer, and to fold it nicely before dropping it off? How much effort or time does it take to sort the bad food from what you’re packing up for charity? How much cost would it be to give fresher fruits, vegetables, and breads instead? How much effort and cost would it take to provide a better quality, fresher meat? How much decency would it require to not put food you’ve handled or bitten from back into the box for the poor persons? We can and should do better.

Volunteers

And there is the volunteers at these charities who are given first pick of what they unload and put onto the shelves for the poor. You know they are going to take the best quality items every time and leave the broken, rotten, dirty, things for the poor to go through. This practice either needs banned by charities, or the charities need to better monitor and choose the quality of products in general that they take in for the poor.

To Give or Not To Give

And then there are always those who comment on pieces like this saying “Don’t give to Good will because they sell the stuff for profit” or “Don’t give to this or that charity because it doesn’t get to the poor” or some such comment about this charity or that charity. Tune those people out and ignore them, that advise only harms needy people. Believe it or not, Goodwill provides a needed service to the poor and needy. There are poor people who still have a shred of dignity left that they wish to keep. They refuse outright charity because they are tired of people calling them freeloaders living off taxpayer money. They will only take what they pay for, they can’t afford to shop new, so they shop at Goodwill where prices are affordable for them, and where they can choose decent quality products, and not be called freeloaders or leaches on society. Goodwill also uses the money they receive for programs that train the lower income and special needs poor to work and provides paid training/employment for these people. For those people, you take Goodwill away because nobody will donate to them because of this bad advice, and these people are left with nothing - unless they give up the last shred of dignity they still have.

Photo: tricitiesbusinessnews.com

Just Give

So, give to Goodwill and the Salvation Army, give to the red cross, and community services, find churches that actually do hold free dinners, and food giveaways for the needy and donate to these churches. Don’t be afraid to give directly to the poor themselves if you don’t trust the churches or charities, many times I see people video shaming the poor and telling others online to not give to them; don’t do that. And don’t simply buy them food or things because you’re afraid they will spend the money on drugs or booze, very few of them do that, and many times the money they receive is saved to get a way home, or a safe place to stay out of the weather, or needed medication for their loved ones or their own illness. You really don’t know what they want it for, and even if a few do spend it on drugs or booze, once it changes from your hand to their hand, it is no longer yours, it is theirs, to spend or save as they wish.

There are those who say, “I want to give to a place that will give it to the poor free, not sell it to them for profit”. That is good, I admire you, find a place you trust to do that and donate your things to them. But also give a little to Goodwill here and there too. There are lots of poor and needy who will not take free stuff under any circumstance, they want to pay their way. Please don’t take that dignity away from them by denying them the one charity that leaves that dignity intact.

If you want to give for religious reasons, keep this in mind - God never asked you to police what you give nor to qualify who you give it to, God only asked you to take some of what was provided to you and give it to those in need. That is the entire reason God blessed you to begin with; so that you can bless them. Let God deal with what they spend it on or how they use it.

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In Closing

So what if they use it to buy an expensive smart phone so they can receive employment offers, or high-end clothing for interviews, or Uggs to keep their feet warm in the winter, or if they buy their little girl 15 dolls for Christmas instead of two. What is that to you? Do you really believe that billionaire complaining about children having 30 dolls, or you having 200 pencils is limiting himself or his children to 2 dolls or 5 pencils??? Come on - Wake up. Do Better; They deserve it. Not to mention, if you are one of those claiming the name of Christ - You are obligated anyway.