It seems like at least once a year I clean out my closets and garage. Inevitably, I always end up with bags and boxes of stuff that I don't need any more. Whether than throw out my old clothing, tools, and electronics, I make it my mission to find a good charity to donate them to.

For several years I used to cram all this stuff into the back of my car and drive it down to the nearest Goodwill or Salvation donation center. Recently though I found a really cool charity, Vietnam Veterans of America, that will come to my house and pick up my donations. FREE of charge! It's awesome. I found their website online (www.PickUpPlease.org) and I was able to schedule a donation pick up. They came a picked up my stuff and left me a charitable tax deduction receipt. (I'm a CPA, so I always take advantage of the tax benefits of donating to charity!)

I strongly recommend this charity and their website. It was an amazing service!

There are some great reasons to donate your old clothing, electronics, toys, tools and other stuff to charity:

1. Help a good cause: Charities rely on your donations for support. According to their website, something like 60% of the funding for the Vietnam Veterans of America comes from their www.PickUpPlease website and their clothing donation program. Wow. What an easy way to help veterans.

2. It's tax deductible!: As long as you give to a real non-profit charity, and you itemize your taxes, you should be able to get a tax deduction. (Consult your tax professional...)

3. Great for the environment: It's important that all of this "stuff" that we Americans accumulate does NOT end up in a landfill if we can help it. Recycle-Reduce-Reuse! What better way to "Re-use" something than to donate it to charity!