Spring cleaning? Here's where to donate to do the most good.
Catie's Closet
This Dracut-based organization creates shopping experiences for kids living in poverty: They turn unused areas inside schools into discreet spaces where kids can browse for free clothing, toiletries, and other basics. Donate Prom attire, dress shirts, ties, hoodies, dresses, tank tops, shorts, joggers, and leggings.
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The Children's Room
This Arlington group offers grief support for families — several friends have benefited from their community after the death of a parent. They need gender-neutral, blank journals, as well as art supplies: Sharpies, washable markers, stickers, stamps, poster boards, scissors, decorative tape and papers, and paint brushes.
Circle of Hope
Needham's Circle of Hope provides kids and adults experiencing homelessness with clothing and hygiene essentials. They make regular deliveries of clothing, coats, shoes, bedding, and hygiene essentials to 32 partner shelters and clinics. Give them gently used T-shirts, sweaters, flannel shirts, sweats, shorts, sports bras, baby, and maternity clothes.
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Fresh Start Furniture Bank
This Hudson-based organization distributes kid-friendly plastic dishes and cups, utensils, appliances, good-condition linens and towels, decorative pillows, framed artwork, and all sorts of furniture. They even pick up in several Metro West locations.
Friends of the Homeless of the South Shore
Based in Weymouth, this group needs like-new home essentials — sheets, blankets, curtains, area rugs — plus non-perishables like soup, pasta, coffee, and tea. Call 781-340-1604 to schedule a donation drop-off.
Household Goods
Acton's Household Goods donates high-quality furniture and household items to 2,500 families each year. Need to streamline your linens, kitchen items, or sheets and towels? This is your place. They also accept tables, chairs, and other furniture.
Mission of Deeds
This Reading-based organization furnishes homes for people in need, with a focus on kitchenware, matching kitchen and dining room chairs, lamps, ironing boards, and more. Plus, they offer pickup in various towns north of Boston.
More Than Words
I love the mission: This nonprofit, youth-run online and retail bookstore in Boston and Waltham is staffed by kids who are in foster care, homeless, or involved in the court system. Donate all genres of books (less than 10 years old), plus LPs, clothes, jewelry, used (but intact) games, artwork, and lots more. Schedule a pickup or browse their many drop-off locations.
New American Association of Massachusetts (NAAM)
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Based in Lowell and Lynn, NAAM makes the transition to the United States a little easier with staples like Chromebooks or other laptops in working condition, plus backpacks, diapers, strollers, and baby formula.
Savers
Savers is a thrift retailer with branches throughout the region. Their motto hits close to my (overfilled) home: 'Declutter responsibly.' They accept a wide array of donations, from housewares and clothing to electronics to stuffed animals (a rare find!), with many drop-off locations.
South Shore Stars
This youth-development agency, with a brand-new school for dyslexic learners, needs supplies for their centers in Quincy, Randolph, and Weymouth, geared to kids six weeks to middle school: tops and bottoms; shoes; and seasonal clothing like sandals, bathing suits, and rain jackets. Call 781-340-5109 to arrange a drop-off time.
StoryTime Crafts
This Needham-based group champions literacy and equitable access to education by partnering with schools in under-resourced communities. They need new and gently used books for preschool up to eighth grade. Their Needham book slot is open daily.
Kara Baskin can be reached at
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Mom Recalls Daughters' Rescue amid Flooding at Texas' Camp Mystic, Says Staff 'Should Have Been on Top of It'
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USA Today
2 days ago
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Heritage's canned cocktails review: They actually hit their moving target
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3 days ago
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There's a generation gap here, too — 'Gen Z parents are more likely than millennial or Gen X parents' to consider reading a chore or subject than a fun activity for kids. Parents who think of reading as a skill to master are also more likely to stop reading to their kids once the kids can read for themselves. Still, about a third of parents say they wish they had more time to read to their kids, and 44% say that reading together makes them feel closer to their kids. I still read to my kids regularly. Not quite as regularly during the summer as during the school year, and never quite as consistently as I'd like, but I still aim for at least 20 minutes several times a week for the older ones (9, 11, and 13) and multiple books daily for the 5-year-old. Sometimes my 19-year-old will join us, and once recently, my 23-year-old was visiting and even sat in! That was when we were reading Bruce Coville's My Teacher Is An Alien series. We had just finished the first three Wayside School books, by Louis Sachar, and I wanted to switch from short stories to a novel, and introduce another series I loved as a kid myself. I was so anxious about them enjoying it, and for the first couple of chapters, my kids weren't very interested — then all of a sudden it clicked, and we found that magic space where they ask for 'one more chapter' when I think we're done for the night! Then, after we'd closed the book for the night, my oldest said, 'I remember this story from when you read it to us [the two oldest kids],' and with that simple statement comes a moment of knowing that something made an impact. I didn't read to my oldest kids as much as I wish I had, but my child unknowingly just told me that the times I did read to them made an impact! It mattered! Reading kids' books can be like playing Candyland — you remember enjoying it when you were little, but now maybe it feels trite and saccharine. It doesn't have to, though! There is a near-infinite variety of books for little kids, whether you want to make them laugh by reading about canine flatulence (Walter the Farting Dog, by William Kotzwinkle), or introduce them to philosophical thinking (Big Ideas for Young Thinkers, by Jamia Wilson). If you absolutely can't stand reading another book about talking dogs and hardworking anthropomorphic trains, maybe try diving into classics like Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game and The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. (Okay, The Phantom Tollbooth does have a talking dog, but if you like wordplay, you'll love it. My younger son, 8 at the time, and not a huge fan of reading, actually took it out of my hands and demanded a turn reading aloud.) Even for younger kids, some books are engaging enough that parents can love them too. When The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson, arrived in our mailbox (thank you, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library), my husband and I, along with all the big kids (probably 10, 13, and 15 at the time), took turns reading it to the little boys. We immediately had to get a copy of the sequel, because honestly, the book is just so much fun. Even if you dislike every book I've listed above, there is something out there that your kids will enjoy, and that meets your interests, too! One great thing about reading to kids is that you can choose books above their reading level, as long as the subject matter is appropriate. When I was little, I'd beg my mom to read aloud when she read from her Bible at night. I certainly didn't understand much of it at the time, but being read to still feels cozy and loving. I've noticed the same with my kids. Even when I'm reading a book targeted at older readers, the kids who are too young for that particular book will still cuddle in to listen. Reading on a kid's level is important and good for them, but if you genuinely can't tolerate another read of Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown, reading to your kid from William Golding's The Princess Bride, or Lucy Maude Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series, or A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, is also wonderful. The target, according to the Children's Reading Foundation, is 20 minutes a day. However, if you aren't hitting that target, don't consider it a failure. Reading to your kids the amount you are able is better than skipping it altogether. As I mentioned earlier, the current target in my household is 20 minutes at a time, at least 3 times a week, for my older kids. My 5-year-old is learning to read for herself right now (and I cannot laud Hooked On Phonics enough; the app is fantastic and the books they send are perfect) so we read together much more frequently. Still, even if all you can squeeze in is 20 minutes at a time on weekends, that's great too. (One of Barbara Park's Junie B. Jones' books can typically be finished in two 20-minute sessions.) The important part is that you are making reading time into a fun and bonding experience. Reading to your kids is incredibly valuable in many ways. I've raved about the connection, the joy when you and your child are both on the edge of your seat waiting to hear whether this bar of chocolate is the one with the golden ticket, or rooting for three kids to help their alien teachers save planet Earth successfully. That is an indescribable bonding sensation. However, there is also tangible evidence that reading to your children improves their language skills and sets them up for academic success. A study from the University of Ohio concluded: 'Young children whose parents read them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to…Even kids who are read only one book a day will hear about 290,000 more words by age 5 than those who don't regularly read books with a parent or caregiver.' Experts say this prepares kids to encounter those and other words in print and build bigger and more adaptive vocabularies. These kids are also more likely to pick up reading for fun, which has further benefits. Forbes reported in 2023 on a study comparing kids who read for fun to those who do not. 'Children who start to read for fun early in life get better test scores by the time they reach adolescence…Reading for pleasure by the age of nine is also linked to better mental health, less screen time and better sleep, compared to children who start later or not at all, researchers found.' All of this is a gift we can give our kids, just by finding the time to read to them regularly!
