We track our impact across three lenses — the people we serve, the environment we protect, and the local economy we help sustain.
We recognize that the earth's resources are finite. 85% of clothing in the U.S. ends up in the trash, and California alone discarded 1.2 million tons of textiles in a single year — at a cost of $99 million in landfill fees. Every garment worn again is one that never had to be made, and one that never rots in the ground releasing methane.
Clothing collection is our main source of fundraising. What we gather is baled and resold into the secondhand market — only about 20% of donated clothing in the U.S. is sold domestically — and the proceeds fund everything we do. That trade is not a charity pipeline but a working economy, employing people at every step — here in Northern California and in the markets that receive what we collect. Our full financials are published each year.
Whether it's hosting a Box, organizing a collection drive, or dropping off a bag — every pound counts. Some people give clothes. Some give time. Both move the same work forward.
Fighting poverty, close to home and abroad.
Our mission is to fight worldwide poverty and empower ordinary people to do the same. Proceeds from the clothing we collect fund the training of volunteers who work alongside communities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique — on food security, health, education and clean water. Closer to home, non-clothing donations are either sold or donated back to local schools and our nonprofit partners.