The Salvation Army: A Donation Goes A Long Way

When the pandemic hit, The Salvation Army had to adjust its business model. Before, the charity would schedule pickups of home goods donations at many HOA communities – usually after owners held garage sales and whatever didn’t sell, The Salvation Army would take.

But COVID changed that. It became too costly to maintain a fleet of trucks, and difficult as well as costly to find drivers, said Dalita Lovett, Director of Resource Development for The Salvation Army USA Western Territory. She recently signed up the charity group as an Industry Partner member of CACM.

Now, The Salvation Army relies on drop-offs of donated goods. The sale of these goods go toward funding a network of more than 100 adult alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers across the U.S. that offer free residential rehab treatment for six months to individuals without insurance or means to pay.

“When we talk about donations of clothing or goods, when you’re donating that one item to us, it means so much more. It means this whole program. It’s why our donation sites even exist,” Lovett said. The Salvation Army has a host of other programs including food pantries, homeless shelters, disaster relief, job training and after-school programs.

Lovett said the rehab centers they run offer three times the national average completion rates compared to other programs, but it’s a service many people don’t know it provides. “We’re like the bestkept secret,” she said.

While The Salvation Army can no longer offer pickup service of donated goods in most areas, Lovett said 95 percent of its retail stores are drop-off centers. The main items it accepts as donations are household items including housewares, clothing, shoes and small furniture. Its retail stores closed during the early days of the pandemic, but they have all reopened. Communities interested in knowing their closest drop-off location can go to: https://satruck.org/. Donations are all tax-deductible.

In addition to goods donations, Lovett said The Salvation Army looks to partner with businesses in other creative ways like holding a clothing drive, toy drive or food drive during the holidays. “We can always help companies personalize their charity experience and make it really rewarding to see the results in the end,” she said.

Companies interested in crafting a personal program can reach out to her directly at Dalita. Lovett@usw.salvationarmy.org.

“We can figure out what they’re trying to achieve and in what area they want to effect change and we can connect them to the right Salvation Army program,” she said.

One program that has been growing is job placement for people who come out of their rehab centers. Some want to change career paths or don’t have a career. The Salvation Army helps them by coaching them for interviews, teaching job skills and providing clothing for job interviews.

“Helping people get jobs—that’s another way HOA management companies or vendors can help—by donating career clothing or having a speaker come talk to program participants about ways to interview, resume writing, etc.,” she said. “Sharing that expertise on hiring techniques or job opportunities for our graduates. There are so many different ways to get involved. The sky is the limit.”