I always give clothes and toys to Caritas but I got to know that they are selling the stuff and I do not see the impact of donating. I was wondering where I can donate things and see to whom is going and what are their particular needs. Any idea? Refugees places?

Why can't Caritas sell the stuff they collect? They do a lot of good work, and toys might be nice, but an African child might like some clean water too.

There are plenty of second hand shops around for your donations, but be careful, they all sell the stuff but some don't even give to a charity!

If you want to see direct impact of your donations, you could try to identify needy families within your community. Stäfa might not have many, but if you call the social services, or even Caritas, they might put you in touch with services who cater to needy families. You could become a sort of sponsor for a family with kids younger than yours - and periodically donate your (gently) used and outgrown goods. Good luck and keep it up!

Yes, refugee places often like to take them. Specially "Durchgangszentren" (asylum, first phase). Ask Asyl Organisation Zürich, start at the main number 044 415 65 00 . They run the DZ's in Zurich and enviroment.

Here is a link for AOZ - https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/content...t-zuerich.html

In addition to Zürich there is a location in Uster (and Kloten).

FYI, your donation of goods often has a greater impact if the organization can sell it here and then use the proceeds to further their good work.

Goods storage and transportation is expensive. Shipping that bag of old clothes or toys means the organization must use more resources to put your donation into action, meaning that ultimately your donation is worth less to a family in need.

Second hand goods command a better price here than elsewhere. The money gained from the sale can then be used in the local economy, where it will go farther to help that family in need.

A bit more from ZEWO:
https://www.zewo.ch/fur-spendende/me...FdEy0wodaQoERQ

From their list, I see that the Bröcki in Meilen, so not far from you, supports the charity Noveos. You might want to contact them.

I agree with that but I think it's difficult to sell second hand clothes here i.e. they must be of a really high quality and very little used as even the smallest defect can be a big no no.. I usually put them into those special bins provided by the local community but really doubt they are helping anyone as I heard from a Swiss friend that most of them end up being tossed away.

Btw OP, you might wish to try to sell them at Kinderbörse and then decide to donate those money to a charity of your choice. Mine are Unicef and Save the children.

Your post got me googling... two articles:

The positive:

http://www.solothurnerzeitung.ch/sol...nden-128319891

And a darker side (article from 2004, relevence today should be checked):

https://www.ktipp.ch/artikel/d/das-s...lten-kleidern/

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I like your idea of selling privately and donating the money directly.

Try a women's shelter. We live in Schaffhausen, and they take and need donations.

Take them to one of the brings centers


http://www.brings.ch/


They will do all the rest

Thanks, I am glad about the positive!
Selling privately is an option if one has enough time and energy and really wants every little cent to go to a certain organisation. To be honest I would be happy if they are not just thrown away, it doesn't matter who gets what. Still, those two organisations I mentioned are the ones who have really good projects all over the world.

Had no idea about this centre, good tip.

There are also big clothing donation metal boxes at many recycling centers.