NOVEMBER 2021 PANDEMIC UPDATE: They have free pick ups but if you want to send your items asap to declutter faster you can send items via Lalamove (if it fits in a motorcycle) or Transportify if it fits a car or bigger, like an L300 or even a truck. Please practice contact free shipping by paying for them online, and tip your riders/drivers generously since they are risking their lives to help us deliver items.

In my last post about where to send decluttered items, I talked about where to donate usable and damaged clothings. In this post, I’d like to share with you my favorite place to send decluttered items: Tzu Chi Foundation. It’s so convenient because:

1. We can donate usable items that can help calamity victims and the poor.
2. We can also donate items that are no longer useful, but recyclable. The proceeds of their recycling go to helping their charitable beneficiaries
3. They also pick up for free, if you have enough items to donate. But please note they schedule pick up according to how many other pick ups they have in your area. We cannot rush them since they are doing this free of charge. It’s best to email them pictures, so they know what size truck to bring.

WHAT DOES TZU CHI ACCEPT?

Tzu Chi accepts both usable and unusable (but recyclable) items, which is why it’s so convenient when you have a lot of things that you want to declutter from your home.

Did you know that you can also partner with Tzu Chi for your building (hello building admins!) or offices so you can set up a trash segregation system and recycle your waste! They can then pick up weekly. AMAZING!

• Clothes that are in good usable conditionClothes that are in good usable condition.
  • Please wash or sanitize the clothes before donating so that they are ready for use by the poor/calamity victims
  • Damaged clothing should be donated here instead.
• All types of paper i.e. Newspaper, scratch paper, books, magazines
• Cartons and corrugated boxes
• Aluminum and any other metals
• Glass bottles (safety tip: no jagged edges & in a container)
• PET or water mineral bottles and assorted plastics
• old or broken appliances
• old and useable furniture UPDATE: Please send them pictures of the furniture, because they will not accept some furniture.

ASSISTANCE TO CALAMITY VICTIMS

When there is a huge typhoon, earthquake or other calamity, Tzu Chi focuses all their resources on assisting the victims, so they aren’t able to pick up.

During these times, it’s best to drop off your donations/recyclables:

• Fridays 7am to 12nn
• 76 Cordillera corner Agno St, Dona Josefa, QC

If you don’t have a driver like me, it’s easy to send your stuff using Transportify or Lalamove.

Tzu Chi also accept cash donations that can help them in their efforts.

HOW TO BOOK PICK UPS FOR LARGE/BULK ITEMS OR

1. Get in touch with Tzu Chi and send them pictures of your items via email, viber or FB messenger (see bottom for contact details) and ask them if they will accept the items, and if they can pick up. This gives them an idea of what size truck to bring.
2. If they are able to pick up, you will need to wait for their advice on when they have a pick up in your area. They usually give one day’s notice.
3. Sort items for donation and place similar categories in one container each.

PLEASE DONATE MINDFULLY

• Do not donate items that are not appropriate for helping the less fortunate or victims of calamity. e.g. Tshirts, shorts, jeans & other warm climate appropriate items. Tzu Chi is not the place for disposing your old stilettos, ball gowns or winter stuff. For these types of items, better to donate to Segunda Mana, where they sell it to people who might need them but can’t afford them brand new.
• Be sure to sort your items into categories, & label accordingly. Let’s not add to their work by placing everything jumbled together
• Place each category in a box or reusable bags with labels. For example: “toys” or “clothes for girls 1-3yo” or “books.” It’s better to donate in reused boxes, because they are stackable and you can easily label it. The boxes can be recycled afterwards.
• Please do not donate using trash bags. Not only is it messy, adds to plastic waste, and not easy to label, but it doesn’t honor the people you are donating to. It feels more like trash than useful donations.
• Just because you are donating a lot of items, it doesn’t mean that it should look like trash. It’s important to donate mindfully. For example, if you have a bag of broken glass items, it would not be safe for them to handle, so they probably will not accept this.

Good To Know For Manila Declutterers:
Where to Conveniently Donate Used Clothes in ANY condition

ANOTHER ONE STOP PLACE FOR DONATIONS

Usually people only know SEGUNDA MANA as a place for usable donations for home, fashion and so much more, because they resell it in their shops, wherein 100% of the proceeds go to education thousands of poor Filipino children a year.

What may not be common knowledge is that they also work with junk shops and are able to receive RECYCLABLE DONATIONS. Just make sure to let them know, and that they are labelled and segregated properly. If it looks like a jumble of trash, they will not take it.

Another thing they do is teach people how to repair broken items so that they can make a living from it. This means that they may accept broken furniture. But you must inform them and send photos on Viber (see below) first to make sure that it’s something they can still repair.

Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines

76 Cordillera cor. Agno Street, Barangay Doña Josefa, Quezon City
(632) 8732 0001 / 8732 0002
Viber Anita +63922-8460640 • +63976 044 6998
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images via Tzu Chi Foundation