Help us send 25 tons of clothing donations to Lebanon

 

Since the launch at the beginning of the year, the CLOTHESUP project of SB OverSeas has been picking up clothing donations from all around Brussels.

Our pick up team has been busy at work: they collected clothes from households and business in Sint-Pieters, Leeuw, Laken, Forest. Uccle and Jette. The week before, we collected from our partners, the Brussels School of International Studies in Etterbeek as well as the De Palaver Community centre  in Denderleeuw.

 

This spring 2019, SB OverSeas and our partners have secured a 25-ton container to fill, but we have to collect that many donations by April 20. So far, in two months we’ve collected from 40 companies and individuals, of top of many drop offs at our office every day. 

In order to meet the goal of filling the container, SB OverSeas has expanded its clothing aid project to now being able to PICK UP donations directly from your DOOR. As an important member of your local community, you or your business can help us in collecting donation items for refugees in Lebanon and Turkey from your communities.

The only thing you have to do is make a request through the CLOTHESUP project and we will pick up the clothes in any place at your convenience. Therefore, if you have 5-6 bags (60 litre size) and you want to donate, with any type of shoes and clothes which are in a good condition.

 

 

 

What DO we accept?

Any sort of clothes, both for winter and summer seasons, mainly for women and children, but
Bed sheets and blankets
Shoes and socks
Gloves, scarfs
Soft or plush toys

What do we NOT accept? 

Torn or dirty clothing items
Furniture
Electronic devices
Plastic toys and toys with battery or functioning with electricity

If you’d like to donate these types of items, consider bringing them to your local Les Petits Riens.

 

Giving clothes a second life

This is not only a way of providing people in need with clothes, but it is also a way of helping the environment by recycling your unused clothes. When you donate your clothes, you are saving the environment from a lot of harm. According to the EPA, it costs $45 on average per ton to dispose of waste in a landfill. Clothing that sits in landfill releases toxic greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the environment when they break down. Lastly, making new clothes takes hundreds of gallons of water, and the production of new textiles accounts for 10% of all carbon emissions on the planet. All these things can be avoided if you donate your clothes for reuse.

Helping people in need

So, you’re ready to clean out your closet—you have a lot of clothes that you don’t wear anymore, and you’re ready to revamp your wardrobe. While you’re doing that, you’re probably wondering what you’re going to do with all the old clothes. Before you throw them in the trash, consider donating them. Even though you don’t want your old clothes anymore, it’s almost guaranteed that someone else will. There are many people in need of usable clothing, and children in need of clothing, and your donations can help. When you throw away your clothes, they have no chance of reaching people who need them the most.

A central part of SB OverSeas’ activities is emergency aid in the form of the distribution of basic necessities. Clothing and other vital goods are frequently collected all over Europe to be shipped to Lebanon and Turkey, where they are distributed to Syrian refugee communities by our SB OverSeas team on the ground.

Read more about SB OverSeas and make a request for pick up