π 5 Social Enterprises Where You Can Meaningfully Donate Clothes
Welcome back to the Santa Clara Meditation blog for Part 2 of our Her Subtraction Life series!
In ‘Why Do We Have Nothing to Wear? Part 1’, we did a massive purge of the clothes we hadn’t worn for a long time to clear our minds, find our personal style, and practice the art of subtraction. Wow!!! π
But among the pile of discarded items, there are likely many clothes that are just too good to throw away. At our meditation center, we believe that letting go is not just about emptying; itβs also about sharing. Let’s help those clothes find new owners! Once you experience the joy of connecting a piece of clothing with someone who desperately needs it, your heart will be filled with abundance instead of regret. Completely filled up~ ^^*
Here are five amazing social enterprises where you can meaningfully donate your clothes. πβ¨
π 1. Open Closet: Hope for Young Job Seekers
While organizing your closet, you might find suits you bought for interviews or important events but never ended up wearing. Open Closet is a place that receives such donated suits and rents them out affordably to young job seekers who need interview attire.
With shirts for 5,000 won, jackets for 10,000 won, and shoes for 5,000 won, it’s a total jackpot site for job seekers who feel burdened by the gasp-inducingly high prices of suits. They even alter the designs of out-of-trend clothes! Since opening their online site in July 2012, the number of users has been steadily increasing.
“This is the first suit I bought upon graduation after a senior told me a navy striped suit is the absolute best for interviews. I dressed to the nines in it for my interviews, and I passed every single one. I kept it because it’s a suit with a story, but I’m taking this great opportunity to share this suitβand its good employment energyβwith young job seekers. Fighting!” β A Happy Donor
π§Έ 2. Story Store: Sales Proceeds Go to Amputee Children
This is a place that receives clothing donations and uses the sales proceeds to provide functional clothing for children with amputations.
When people think of secondhand goods, there are often negative perceptionsβlike they are clothes someone else wore and threw out, or that they feel somewhat awkward to wear. However, Story Store is famous for sparking a paradigm shift regarding secondhand clothing with the concept of “secondhand is good new arrivals.”
If the donor wishes, their clothes are introduced along with the story behind them. The buyer doesn’t just purchase a piece of clothing; they read the story, discover the value of the garment, and then buy it. Ultimately, ‘Story Store’ wants to sell a recycling lifestyle. Moving beyond simply receiving donations, it’s a place building a culture that shares the experience of recycling.
π 3. Otcan: Supporting Educational Activities in the Third World
Otcan exports old clothes and shoes sent from regular households and organizations nationwide to the Third World. The proceeds are then used to fund things that nurture dreams, such as educational activities for children in impoverished countries in Africa and Asia.
The name ‘Otcan’ is a clever combination of ‘Ot’ (Korean for clothes) + ‘can’, meaning “We can do good deeds with clothes.”
πΆ 4. Kiple: Children’s Clothing Sharing Service
Kiple is a sharing service that receives donations of children’s clothes and allows others to purchase them affordably.
Any parent raising a young child knows how quickly clothes become too small for their rapidly growing kids. Children’s clothes come in such diverse sizes and tastes that it’s hard to find someone to hand them down to, and selling them secondhand is a hassle. Instead of throwing them in the collection bin, donate to Kiple!
- Clothes are evaluated based on brand and quality.
- Prices range from free to usually around 2,000~3,000 won.
- Donors can earn ‘Kiple Money’ (points) equivalent to the set price.
At Kiple, they use the term ‘second clothes’ rather than ‘vintage clothes.’ It means they aren’t worn once and thrown away, but rather they continue to circulate by meeting their second and third owners. You can realize that the things you thought were “mine” are actually “ours.” In a word, the world is one giant closet and community!
β»οΈ 5. Beautiful Store: Sharing and Circulation Together
Many of you already know about Beautiful Store, right? It’s a social enterprise established in 2002 with the goal of creating a “beautiful world of sharing and circulation where everyone participates together.”
Here, you can donate not only clothing but also daily sundries, books, records, home appliances, furniture, and more. They slightly repair the various donated items or upcycle them into other products to sell at a low price. Most of the proceeds are reinvested for social purposes.
P.S. If you’ve successfully donated the clothes you organized, from now on, you’ll need to acquire clothes you can actually wear well. Next time in Part 3, I’ll introduce my personal methods for buying clothes well and the core principles of smart shopping! ποΈ
