Donate Goods

Contact our National VOAD Members working the disaster to determine what the specific needs are before you make a donation. Better yet, post an offer of goods at the National Donation Management Network link provided below for the state of your choice. VOAD members and emergency management authorities will review your offer and advise you if it is needed. Please confirm what is needed BEFORE taking action!

• Donate in-kind goods that are specifically requested or needed by recognized organizations.
• Unsolicited donated goods such as used clothing, miscellaneous household items, and mixed or perishable foodstuffs require helping agencies to redirect valuable resources away from providing services to sort, package, transport, warehouse, and distribute items that may not meet the needs of disaster survivors.
• Confirm needs by contacting the voluntary organization of your choice before starting to collect.
• If you have a quantity of a given item or class of item to donate, and you need help in determining which organizations to give to, you can make your offer through the National Donations Management Network.

If you volunteer to host a collection, please do so with answers to these questions:

• What is needed?
• Where is it needed?
• Do they have a way to receive and distribute it?
• How do they want it packaged and shipped?

Clothing, household items, and food are best provided by well-funded voluntary agencies and not through the expensive process of collecting, sorting, packaging, transporting, receiving, sorting, and distributing of goods.

Everyone is moved when they hear the news that disaster has struck a community. By learning and practicing the best ways to donate and volunteer, we can all make a huge difference in the lives of those affected.