Helping us help others: a guide to donating the Vina Moses way
Vina Moses
It’s 10am and the sound of metal clanking can be heard as the gate beside Vina Moses Center rolls open, beckoning the cars waiting just on the other side of it to pull through - Donation Day has begun. 1,500-3,000 pounds of clothing, shoes, household goods and everything in between will fill the donation room in just two hours time.
Our volunteers process anywhere from 3,000 - 6,000 pounds of donations each week. It truly takes a village to make sure that we can continue to operate and provide good, clean, usable donations to those in need throughout Benton County. Below we have provided some tips and ways you can help us to help our community.
Here Drake shows us the difference between a good looking sweater and a bad looking sweater.
Get Critical
Did you know that we recycle around a third of the clothing, shoes and bags that we receive? Items that are over-worn (substantial color loss, pit stains, pilling, etc.), dirty, unwashed, stained, have holes, are hopelessly wrinkled or smelly won’t be hung up inside our center. We believe the people and families we serve deserve the very best we can give. Help us help our community by using a critical eye before you donate. Our rule of thumb? If you wouldn’t give the item in question to a good friend or family member, it may not make it into our center.
Recycling is a byproduct of volunteer work at Vina Moses Center, not its primary function. Like you, our volunteers want to make a difference in the life of someone who needs help. With the amount of donations we receive, and the limitations of a volunteer work-force, our volunteers cannot spend time cleaning, fixing, or spending too much time on any one item. Thank you for valuing our volunteers just as much as we do!
Get Active!
One of the most important ways you can help us is to volunteer your time. It takes real people-hours to work through the thousands of pounds of donations we receive every week. We are always looking for new smiling faces to join our efforts! If you’re interested in volunteering, head on over to our website (vinamoses.org/volunteer) and check out the different volunteer jobs we have available. If one (or many!) strike your fancy, fill out the Volunteer Interest Form and our Resource Coordinator, Shannon, will respond with more details. If you’re interested in getting your group involved, hosting a back-to-school, food, or giving tree drive or have any other ideas you’d like to run by us, email us at info@vinamoses.org
Be Patient & Stick to our Donation Hours
One of the easiest ways to help us is to stick to our donation hours. Our goal in the future is to be able to open up our donation hours, but for the time being we are limited in both space and people-power. Sometimes we are so overflowing with donations that we have to close early or shut down a full donation day. It’s a good problem to have, but a problem nonetheless. Please be patient with us as we work through the piles of donations we receive.
Current Donation Hours:
Monday & Thursday from 10am until 12pm
Items we need & would love to take!
New or gently used clean…
Clothing & shoes (all sizes)
Houseware & kitchenware
Bedding & towels
Small countertop appliances
Paper goods (toilet paper, tissue, paper towels)
Hygiene items (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, soap, deodorant, toothbrushes/paste. lotion, menstrual products, shaving items, makeup removers, etc.)
Toys, stuffed animals
Books, games, puzzles
Cleaning supplies
Bags (paper & reusable bags)
Eyeglasses
Food (non-perishable)
Items we cannot take (sorry!)
Dirty, stained, wet, or torn clothing (see above)
Furniture (all kinds and types)
Mattresses
Large appliances
Broken or worn toys, books, puzzles or games
Any items that are broken, don’t work or are missing pieces
Vitamins & medicine
Expired food