Where To Donate A Lift Chair ?

Should you find yourself with a lift chair that’s no longer of use to you, you can make a fabulous gift by donating it to a private individual, or one of many different organizations helping those in need, and make a huge difference in someone’s life. 

There are numerous options for donating “gently used” items of this type, and which are particularly useful to the elderly.

Where to donate a lift chair ? –  You can donate a gently used lift chair to –

• State Assistive Technology Projects
• state online equipment exchanges
• reuse centers
• community loan closets (state and local)
• Bikur Cholim
• non-profit charities
• thrift stores
• medical equipment refurbishment projects
• faith based organizations
• local churches
• senior centers
• veterans centers
• online classified listing websites
• social media platforms

Donating lift chairs to Assistive Technology Programs

State Assistive Technology Programs (AT Programs)

State Assistive Technology Programs (AT Programs) have as a mission, to increase access to assistive technology devices, which includes lift chairs, for the population of their state, and in particular, for low income individuals and families, the disabled, and the elderly.

If you want to learn more about your State AT Program website, as well as how to donate to them, just select your state from the lists below.

Click on your state to go to your AT program website

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

District of Columbia

Donating lift chairs to Refurbishment and Reuse Centers

Medical equipment refurbishment or reuse centers are another place to try, if you decide to donate your lift chair

And it’s worth noting that both refurbishment and reuse centers very often run programs established for the redistribution of donated equipment to individuals in need.

Usually run by non-profit organizations, Medical equipment refurbishment or reuse centers try to keep the costs low so that if the items cannot be offered, they can be sold, for the lowest price possible.

Donating lift chairs to Centers for Independent Living

I would encourage you to ask if your local Center for Independent Living would be interested in your donation, as many of these centers operate loan closets that cater to the needs of their disabled members.

“A Center for Independent Living  are – Designed and operated by individuals with disabilities, Centers for Independent Living (CILs) provide independent living services for people with disabilities. CILs are at the core of ACL’s independent living programs, which work to support community living and independence for people with disabilities across the nation based on the belief that all people can live with dignity, make their own choices, and participate fully in society. These programs provide tools, resources, and supports for integrating people with disabilities fully into their communities to promote equal opportunities, self-determination, and respect.”

Source : https://acl.gov/programs/aging-and-disability-networks/centers-independent-living

To locate a center near you, go here website.

Donating lift chairs to Medical Equipment Loan Closets

Medical equipment loan closets provide another wonderful opportunity to donate new or gently used durable medical equipment – which includes lift chairs – and to help people in your community.

The loan closets usually lend durable medical equipment, at no cost, to any community members who need it, sometimes prioritizing those in need if items are in short supply.

There are also medical equipment loan closets, which only lend equipment to those without health insurance and have a very low income – if this is important to you, you need to ask who the closet services.

You’ll need to do a few searches to find a loan closet near to you –

I like to start by looking in a few specific places –

• I’ll first do some searches on the web – for “medical equipment loan closet + your location”, “medical equipment lending closet + your location”, “medical equipment lending bank + your location”, or “medical equipment bank + your location” – I tend to do the searches in the order you see them above
• If your online searches for loan closets draw a blank, I would try contacting your county Area Agency on Aging next – to get their contact information, you need to go to the locator tool which is here
• no luck ? Next see if your local human resources, or seniors department run any community medical loan closets, or if they are aware of any
• medical equipment refurbishing or reuse are my next port of call – centers near you will most likely have their contact information online
• Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and American Legion Posts – in writing all my articles I have found that these three organizations frequently run community medical equipment loan closets run for their local communities

To locate a Lions Club in your area, check out my quick guide here – How To Find A Lions Club Near Me ? A Very Quick Illustrated Guide

To locate a Rotary Club in your area, check out my quick guide here – How To Find A Rotary Club Near Me ? A Very Quick Illustrated Guide

Bikur Cholim or Medical Equipment Gemacht –  are Jewish medical equipment loan closets open to, and run by, members of the Jewish community. They work on the same principle as other loan closets, but access is restricted to members of the Jewish faith.

To find one, look here on the Chesed Match website.

Great Lakes Loan Closets

I have listed these medical equipment loan closets which service the residents of Michigan, Wisconsin, Northern Indiana and Northern Illinois, as they are a highly organized and comprehensive network of several hundred loan closets, and have been very kindly listed on a website – https://loanclosets.org/

“Loan closets typically have durable medical equipment (DME) such as wheelchairs, shower chairs, bedside commodes, walkers, crutches, canes, and high-rise toilet seats. Some may also have hospital beds or electric wheelchairs available. Each loan closet is unique, with its own set of eligibility requirements, equipment, and loan period.” – Source – the Great Lakes Loan Closets website

To donate your lift chair to a loan closet in their service areas, got to  – https://loanclosets.org/how-to-donate

Online listing sites where you can donate lift chairs near you

Donating online is another very simple option, and it doesn’t require research.

You can make a donation by offering your lift chair for free on online listings like Craigslist, in a social media site’s marketplace and other platforms.

The major plus is that you can do it as close to home as you wish.

You will need a few pointers if you do this –

• if you care for an elderly person in your home, you want to ensure their safety and privacy, so don’t have individuals that you don’t know coming through your home
•  instead, arrange for the handover to be in a public place – such as a mall or a car park
• for big valuable items like your lift chair, have it delivered to the recipient on their dime (unless you have a truck and lots of free time) – they will still be making a huge saving on a free gift
• do create a throwaway email address for posting donations on classified listings –  this will prevent your personal email from being drowned in spam
• donating items on Facebook, Nextdoor, Freecycle and OfferUp, you don’t have issues with spam, but for equipment pick-ups etc., not having strangers come into your home still applies
• you need to state that you are donating your item “as is”, and that you accept no liability if the recipient has any sort of accident or problem with the equipment – you can write this in the description of your item in your posting

Sites on which you can donate items –

• Craigslist.com
• UsedHME.com
• Nextdoor.com
• Facebook.com
• Freecycle.org
• OfferUp.com

If you haven’t used these sites to donate before, read my short illustrated guides on donating new, or used, medical, equipment on each of the following platforms –

Craigslist.com – “How To Donate Used Medical Equipment Near Me On Craigslist ? An Illustrated Guide”

UsedHME.com – “How To Donate Used Medical Equipment Near Me On UsedHME ? An illustrated Guide”

Facebook.com – “How To Donate Used Medical Equipment Near Me On Facebook ? An Illustrated Guide”

Freecycle.org – “How To Donate Used Medical Equipment Near Me on Freecycle.org ? A Very Quick Illustrated Guide”

Nextdoor.com – “How To Get Free Medical Equipment Near Me On Nextdoor.com ? A Quick Illustrated Guide”

OfferUp.com – No need for an article on this, as there is a very good video showing how to use OfferUp, see below.

Donating lift chairs in your neighborhood

You can, of course, donate your lift chair without going online, just call or visit, some of the following places in your neighborhood  –

• Local Hospitals
• Emergency rooms
• Thrift stores
• Senior Centers or Elderly Day Care Centers
• Veterans Centers
• Local Retirement Homes
• Homeless Shelters
• Local council Seniors’ department

Organizations near you who may know where to donate lift chairs

Here are a few extra organizations which may be able to help by giving you some pointers on where you may be able to donate the chair –

Area Agencies On Aging

Area Agencies on Aging deal with a great many of the aspects of services in the community specifically for the elderly, so they may be able to guide you.

To find your Area Agency on Aging, use the locator tool here.

 Social Services

The Social Services department of your local area may also know of any programs that are accepting donations of items such as lift chairs.

Faith-based Charities

Some charities run multiple programs for the homeless, refugees, individuals in need and victims of abuse, all across the whole of the US.

Two such charities which have chapters across the US are –

The Catholic Charities

Society of St Vincent de Paul

To get their contact details for your area, enter the “name of the charity + where you live” into your web browser.

Local Town Hall or Chamber of Commerce

Go to your Town Hall or Chamber of Commerce and ask to see the records of all nonprofit organizations working to refurbish durable medical equipment, and get their contact information.

Reasons why your lift chairs may not be accepted

Sometimes your lift chair will not be accepted, here are some of the typical reasons for why that is –

• it to be too old, or a bit too roughed up for some people
• it may need to be sanitized, and many organizations aren’t set up for that
• a lot of companies don’t deal in used items, as they have no warranty

***Do Note, that when you are donating your lift chair person to person, you must state that you are offering it “as is”, and that you will accept no liability should the new user have any sort of accident, or problem, with the chair – if you are posting it online, just make sure that you write that within the description of the item that you will have to write, and there can be no confusion.

Tax deductions on donations

Keep your receipt for donations that you make to charities if you are claiming a tax deduction – the IRS will require the receipt for the item.