If you are looking for places to donate any food, used clothes, books or any other pre-loves, this list is for you!
Did you come across clothes that you or your little ones are not able to fit in anymore, or food that you no longer need? Instead of tying them all up in a plastic and dumping them in the trash and be done with it, why not donate it for someone who might need them?
And if you don’t know who to donate it to, here’s a list of places where you can donate your food, old clothes, books and other preloved items in Singapore to help you! And if you are looking for places for kids to volunteer, don't forget to check out our list of 6 places for kids to volunteer.
*Update (Jan 2024): updated with latest weblink and added a limited time category.
Limited Time Donation Options
1. Geneco's Annual Used Red Packet Recycling Initiative 2024
What: An annual initiative by Geneco, the Used Red Packet Recycling Initiative is for families to drop off their used (or outdated) red packets for recycling.
How: Simply drop your used red packets in the recycling bins around the island. Apart from the continued collaboration with CRU, IUIGA, REFASH, Wisma Atria, and OTO, Geneco is proud to announce new partnerships with CapitaLand malls, PAP Town Councils, and SG Recycle this year, bringing the total number to over 90 bins.
For full list of recycling bin locations, visit here.
When: The bins will be available from now till 31 Mar 2024.
Ongoing Donation Venues
1. Greensquare
Photo credits Greensquare Textile Recycling
Who: Greensquare provides free textile recycling services.
What: Clean clothes, wearable paired shoes, accessories (belts, bags, etc.), household linen (bedsheets, towels, etc.)
How: Drop off at various locations (less than 15 kg) | Schedule a collection (more than 15 kg - $3 fee)
2. Tzu Chi
Photo credits Tzu Chi
Who: Tzu Chi, is an international NGO providing humanitarian aid to the needy in over 90 nations worldwide.
What: Newspaper, magazine, books, DVD player, metal container & utensils, electrical appliances, glass bottle, clothings
How: Drop off at Tzu Chi’s eco points scattered across Singapore (do check the website for the latest opening details).
3. Salvation Army
Photo credits Salvation Army
Who: Salvation Army runs a diverse range of programs to help meet the needs of the underprivileged in Singapore.
What: Clothing, books, toys, electronic devices, household goods, furniture
How: Drop off at Donation In Kind Booths | Schedule collection for bulky items (Please call +65 6288 5438 or WhatsApp +65 8520 5343 to arrange for collection of furniture and bulky items)
4. Metta Welfare Association
Photo credits Metta Welfare Association
Who: Metta Welfare Association provides health care and welfare services for the less fortunate in Singapore.
What: Groceries, Electronics, Clothing, IT Equipment
How: Place items in plastic bag and drop them in the recycling bin at the various designated locations across Metta Building (32 Simei Street 1, Singapore 529950).
5. Blessings In A Bag
Photo credits Blessings In A Bag
Who: Blessings In A Bag strives to provide disadvantaged children with the essentials they need to thrive and to feel safe, valued and cared.
What: Children’s books, toys (Lego, jigsaw puzzles and educational board & card games), plates, mugs, glassware, decorative items – check their wishlist, updated based on the needs of their community.
How: If you have items, please e-mail the details (helloblessings@gmail.com) of what you have to donate along with photos and descriptions before dropping off the items.
6. Thryft
Photo credits Thyft
Who: Started by students from the National University of Singapore, Thryft is a second-hand online bookstore where you can trade in old books for credits to purchase other books on its marketplace.
What: Books
How: Submit a request, schedule a date and they will have someone pick them up. Courier pick-up service can be arranged to collect the items at your doorstep at a flat fee of $15. [Pick-up currently available for 200 items & above only.]
Alternatively, you can also drop off your items at your chosen drop-off location anytime within the opening hours.
7. Books Beyond Borders
Photo credits Books Beyond Borders
Who: Books Beyond Borders is a social enterprise that generates funds from the sale of secondhand books in Singapore. They use all profits after business expenses, as well as community donations, to help improve access to education in some of the most rural parts of Nepal.
What: Books Beyond Borders accepts donations of adult fiction and nonfiction books written in English. Books must be in good condition, with no mold or torn pages. Popular children’s and teen books, in like-new condition, will also be accepted.
How: Books can be dropped off at Kong Beng Industrial Building, 41 Jalan Pemimpin, Singapore 577186, Monday to Sunday from 12pm to 5pm (Please arrange a time).
If donors have 20 or more books in excellent condition, Books Beyond Borders can arrange for a pick-up. Contact hello@booksbeyondborders.org or use the Live Chat feature on the Books Beyond Borders website to arrange a pick-up date.
8. Cloop
Photo Credit: Cloop
Who: Cloop is a circular fashion enterprise focused on reducing fashion overconsumption and waste by helping consumers close the textile loop with solutions for unwanted textiles and sustainable shopping alternatives. Its mission is to reduce fashion overconsumption and waste by keeping apparel circulated within the community through its Cloop Cycle.
What: Cloop accepts clothes, bags, shoes, accessories, belts, hats/caps, and household items such as toys, pillows and linens, in any clean and dry condition (new/old).
How: Cloop recycling bins are situated around Singapore and you can simply drop your items off at any one. Their list of locations can be found here.
9. ZARA Collection Programme
Who: As part of its social and environmental commitment, ZARA wants to help you extend the useful life of your garments. As a result, ZARA has developed a used clothing, footwear and accessories collection programme to give them a new life and support the non-profit organisations it works with.
What: The ZARA Collection Programme allows you to deposit your unused clothing, footwear and accessories in containers at ZARA stores or, in markets where this is available, to request the donation collection service we offer to our online customers.
ZARA takes care of sending the donated products to the organisations it collaborates with, who sort them according to their condition and quality in order to give them the best possible use. These garments are donated to people at risk of social exclusion, sold in second-hand stores or are recycled.
How: Select all the clothes, shoes and accessories you want to donate and put them in a bag.
You can deposit the package in the containers found in your nearest ZARA store.
10. UNIQLO Recycling Programme
Who & What: UNIQLO wants to maximize the use of clothing that its customers no longer wear. UNIQLO collects clothing from customers at UNIQLO stores, and distribute them to people in need such as refugees and underprivileged people.
How: You can donate used UNIQLO clothing at any UNIQLO store during store operating hours, by approaching any of the staff in cash counter. To find your closest store and operating hours, click here.
11. H&M Garment Collecting Programme
Who & What: H&M's Garment Collecting programme has been going since 2013 and it has recycling boxes in its stores across the globe.
How: Take any unwanted clothes or textiles, by any brand and in any condition, to one of H&M stores. Hand in your bag of old clothes at the cash desk and receive a thank you voucher to use towards your next purchase.
Once you’ve dropped off your previously loved fashion in one of the garment collecting boxes, H&M's business partner takes over. They empty the boxes and sort the contents into three categories:
- Rewear: Wearable clothes are marketed as second-hand clothing.
- Reuse: If the clothes or textiles are not suitable for rewear they’re turned into other products, such as remake collections or cleaning cloths.
- Recycle: All other clothes and textiles are shredded into textile fibres and used to make for example insulation materials.
The locations of the bins can be found on H&M’s website.
12. Ten Feet Tall - Shoe Bank
Who: Are you wondering what to do with those outgrown shoes gathering dust at the back of your cupboard? Ten Feet Tall has the perfect solution for you! Make a positive impact on the world, tackling issues like poverty and environmental concerns. By donating your gently worn shoes, you're not only caring for the planet but also transforming someone's life.
What: Ten Feet Tall accepts all styles, types and sizes of shoes, as long as they are gently worn! All of the donated shoes will go into micro-enterprise programs in developing countries around the world. These programs serve as long-term opportunities to break the cycle of poverty for those in need. When the shoes arrive, they are sorted and, together with its partners, Ten Feet Tall will determine where they need to be sent to make the most impact, i.e.,:
- Create opportunity - Gently used shoes you collect get funneled to developing countries, where people start small businesses to sell them.
- Generate income - By selling shoes, business owners have money to provide for their family — and people who need shoes the most get them at a price they can afford.
- Protect the environment - By repurposing discarded shoes and clothing, you keep them out of landfills and help promote sustainability.
How: Ten Feet Tall runs Collection Drives With Partner Schools, check here for the latest dates and venues or send an e-mail to: hello@tenfeettallshoes.com.
13. Visio Optical Spectacles Recycling Charity
Who: Visio Optical runs a spectacle collection programme to ensure that spectacles are made available to the needy, i.e., people living in conditions of financial difficulty. These people would otherwise remain without proper prescription glasses, because they are unable to access or afford quality eye care. Typically they are elders without income and with little support from other members of the society.
What: You can donate old or new spectacles and sunglasses that are in usable conditions. Visio Optical will clean and prepare them to be re-used.
How: You may bring your spectacles and/or sunglasses in person to the Visio Optical store, or you may send them by regular mail, to this address: Visio Optical, 43 Holland Drive, #01-67, Singapore 270043.
14. Pass-It-On
Who: The Pass-It-On project seeks to provide a meaningful way to distribute unwanted, albeit useful items to benefit the needy (home appliances, home furniture, medical aids, mobility aids, learning aids & etc). With Pass-It-On , your used item can be given a new lease of life, and to better the life of needy!
What: Pass-It-On connects General Public to the needy via Voluntary Welfare Organizations (VWOs). Pass-It-On provides a web platform by channelling the donated items to the needy under the VWOs (for examples, Family Service Centres and Senior Citizen Centres) care. Anyone, within Singapore, can donate, as long as the items are useful and of good working condition.
How: VWOs registered with Pass-It-On can request items on “Wish List”. General Public can fulfil needy wishes by donating the requested items.
Alternatively, General Public can post them on Pass-It-On website. The donated items will be made available to all registered VWOs, who shall reserve the donated items if find suitable for their needy clients. VWOs shall arrange collection of the donated items directly with the donor.
Click here for list of VWOs registered with Pass-It-On.
15. Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home
Who: Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home provides shelter, care and protection to boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 21 years old who come from low income, broken, dysfunctional families in Singapore.
What: Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home welcome donations-in-kind (DIK) to defray the costs of running its Home and to provide for the needs of the children.
- Groceries
- Household/Toiletries
- Medical Items
- School-going Supplies
- Mall / NTUC / Popular Vouchers
How: To help Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home facilitate the process, please inform the Home of the date and time of delivery at least three (3) working days in advance. All DIK will be received during office hours on Monday to Friday, from 9am to 6pm (excluding public holidays). Donors will receive an acknowledgement slip for the items that they donate.
Due to limited storage space and to prevent unnecessary wastage of donated items, kindly note that only items which are relevant to the Home's current needs can be accepted. For perishable items, the Home might not be able to accept items that have a shelf life of less than six months.
Please click here to access our Home’s needs list.
16. Dignity Mama
Who: Dignity Mama, under Project Dignity, rovides caregivers and young adults with special needs the ability to start small businesses. Through a steady supply of a zero-cost product, the kiosks are a powerful and sustainable way for young adults with special needs to gain basic entrepreneurial skills with supportive caregivers. A pilot project that started in 2012, Dignity Mama has now grown to four stalls located in Singapore hospitals. Since then, the micro-enterprise model has kept 50 thousand books out of landfills and instead created employment opportunities for young adults with special needs.
What:
- Dignity Mama Accepts:
- Children’s books: Story books and comics (For e.g. Tin Tin, Pokemon)
- Adult Fiction: NO science fiction
- Adult Non-fiction: Management, business, finance, health/wellness, family/parenting, photography, interior design, computer science books.
- Magazines: National Geographic, Reader’s Digest, Young Scientist, Adventure Science
- Dignity Mama DOES NOT Accept:
- Books in Poor Condition (Old, brown and spotted / Dog ears, jottings, markings, drawings, watermarks, markings and highlighted pages / Used workbooks or textbooks / Photocopied notes and books / Strange odour)
- Books with Controversial Content (Religious, political or sexual content / Banned books)
- Outdated books (No books published before 2000)
- Travel books (No books before 2015)
- Non English books (will only accept on a case-by-case basis)
- Multimedia including: DVD, CDs, tapes
- Other used items like: clothes, shoes or soft toys
- Due to space constraints, only up to 3 grocery bags/3 A4 sized boxes of books will be accepted.
- Disposal of all unsuitable donations will be at Dignity Mama's sole discretion.
Drop-off Locations
- Dignity Mama, Ng Teng Fong: 1 Jurong East St 21 Tower A NTFGH Clinics #02-10 Singapore 609606
- Dignity Mama, National University Hospital (Medical Centre): 1 Lower Kent Ridge Road #01-39, One@KentRidge Singapore 119082
For enquiries, please WhatsApp/SMS to 8363 5072 or 9751 5717.
17. Willing Hearts
Who: A secular, non-affiliated charity, Willing Hearts is wholly run by volunteers, apart from a handful of staff. It operates a soup kitchen that prepares, cooks and distributes about 7,000 daily meals to over 70 locations island wide, 365 days a year. It also offers other support services to beneficiaries that include the elderly, the disabled, low income families, children from single parent families or otherwise poverty stricken families, and migrant workers in Singapore.
What & How: Here is a recommended list of items that Willing Hearts accepts:
- Rice
- Bee Hoon
- Macaroni
- Oil – preferably Canola Oil or Sunflower Oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Sugar – preferably Raw Sugar
- Tomato Sauce
- Chilli Sauce
- Sesame Oil
- Light Soy Sauce
- Dark Soy Sauce
For donations in large quantities of provision and fresh and/or frozen ingredients, please fill up this form.
You may wish to deliver directly to Willing Hearts at No. 1 Lorong J Telok Kurau Singapore 425792 during operating hours of 4.30 am to 3.00pm.
18. Food from the Heart
Who: Food from the Heart (FFTH) is a non-profit organisation that feeds the needy through its food distribution programme. It was established in February 2003 after Singapore-based Austrian couple Henry and Christine Laimer read a report in The Sunday Times about bakeries discarding their unsold bread. Stirred, they then decided to channel surplus food from bakeries to those in need.
What:
Food Donation Wish Lists
- Community Food Pack Wish List
- Rice, 1kg or 2kg
- Vermicelli/bee hoon
- Biscuits, less sugar*
- Malt drinks, less sugar, e.g. Milo*
- Coffee or tea, less sugar*
- Canned fish/meat*
- Canned vegetables - especially beans, mushrooms, peas*
- Canned mock meat
- Canned soup
- Canned fruit
- Evaporated/condensed milk
- Cooking oil, 500ml or 1L
- Bread spread
*Priority items
- Community Shops Wish List (Locations here)
- Coffee in Sachets (All flavours)
- Tea in Sachets (All flavours)
- Milo 3-in-1
- Assorted canned pork products
- Assorted Biscuits
- Canned Fruits
- Canned fried dace/ Sardines
- Rice 2.5kg - 5kg
- Cooking Oil 1L
- The following items are accepted but can only be donated during shop opening hours:
- Packed fresh fruit
- Chilled Juice/ Milk
- Eggs
Note: Food from the Heart requires all food donations to be dated at least 3 months before expiry.
How: Food from the Heart accepts food donations at its office (130 Joo Seng Road, #03-01, Singapore 368357) Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 6pm. You may also order food through online grocers, FairPrice and RedMart, and arrange delivery directly to the FFTH office. There is also a donation box outside the FFTH office where non-perishable food can be dropped off when the office is closed.
Each Food from the Heart Community Shop also has a 24/7 food drop, which allows donors to drop off food donations at the Shop. This helps to keep the kampung spirit alive within the neighbourhood.
19. New2U Thrift Shop
Who: Unlike many of your run-of-the-mill thrift stores, the New2U Thrift Shop, founded by the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO), in addition to affordability & sustainability, allows people to thrift for a meaningful cause: 100% of the proceeds goes towards women under SCWO’s care who are victims of domestic violence, women who require marital/child support and supporting the organisation’s efforts to achieve gender equality. With this, not only are shoppers making an environmentally friendly impact, but also helping to provide a safe space for women and girls and supporting the cause for gender equality.
What: New2U Thrift Shop accepts:
- Clothes
- Bags
- Jewellery & Watches (Working Condition)
- Figurines, Collectibles
- Toys & Board Games (NO SOFT TOYS)
- Kitchen Ware
- Home Deco
How: Please be sure your donations are neatly arranged in durable bags or boxes before dropping them off at the SCWO Centre (96 Waterloo Street). Due to space constraints, New2U Thrift Shop can only accept TWO bags/boxes per person, reasonably.
Before Donating
Before packing all your donated items and leaving them off in the doorstep of the different organizations, you might want to take a look at their website and find out what are the items they accept and do not accept. Also make sure to pack them well before depositing them, for example, wrap your knives and glassware in newspapers before placing them in a bag.
Remember these donation points are not dumping grounds and you should check for the condition of the your donation and also to check with each organisation on what they are looking for.