Be a Discerning Donor

With the closing of the Goodwill truck in the Bainbridge Ace Hardware parking lot on June 30, 2024, there is less local opportunity to get rid of our stuff. Below are other nonprofit options, in order of proximity. But please be aware to give only what you yourself would pay money for, and respect the hours of donation. Stores appreciate (and need) your donations. but only if they can resell them and only when the store is open to receive them. Read the letter below to better understand a nonprofit store’s point of view.

Some nonprofit options:

Rotary Auction & Rummage Sale – BI, only June 29-July 3, 2024 (Check this list for what Rotary does not accept.)

Seattle Childrens’ Bargain Boutique – BI

Senior/Community Center Thrift Store – BI

Fishline’s Second Season Boutique – Poulsbo

Goodwill – Silverdale

Habitat for Humanity – Bremerton (does home pick-ups)

Giving within your community:

BuyNothing – Use the app or Facebook, anywhere!

Free on the Rock – Facebook, BI

One store’s perspective on receiving donations (an email to its listserv recipients, reprinted with permission):

The Bainbridge Island Children’s Hospital Bargain Boutique, with its proud, long-standing mission to provide all profits to Children’s Hospital Uncompensated Care, is now facing a new challenge. The closure of the Goodwill truck usually located at Ace Hardware, has led to a significant increase in donations at our store, requiring us to adapt our operations to meet this new demand.

While we have always appreciated our donor base in this wonderful community, who know to hold their ‘good’ things for our store, we are now experiencing some issues with donors and their donations. There are ‘no dumping please’ signs at our front and back doors for a reason. We expect our donation acceptance hours to be respected. If a donor does not respect our hours and leaves their goods outside, they are brought to the trash with no exceptions. We’d prefer not to pay for extra trash removal, as that digs into funds we are donating to uncompensated care.

Please know that we only accept saleable donations. If you would purchase the items you are donating, then by all means, donate them so they can find a new home!

Please do not donate broken items, dirty or stained items, or items smelling of smoke, pets, mothballs, or mildew. We do not have a laundry, we are not a repair house, and we are not a cleaning company. We have a skeleton staff to keep costs down, but we are really run by our cherished volunteers. We want our volunteers to have a good experience helping neighbors in a store that does not smell, with customers who are happy to purchase products at a reasonable price and for a good cause.

If you are donating, we are always happy to listen to your story; it’s a community service really. If you are told we cannot accept your donation, please understand and do not get angry with our volunteers and staff.