If you own a “gently used” neck brace, donating it to any number of different organizations, or online, can make a real difference to other peoples’ lives who don’t have the finances to pay for one themselves.
Where to donate a neck brace ? A gently used neck brace can be donated to –
- State Assistive Technology Projects
- state online equipment exchanges
- reuse centers
- community loan closets (state and local) and bikur cholim
- non-profit charities
- thrift stores
- medical equipment refurbishment projects
- faith-based organizations
- local churches
- senior centers
- veterans centers
- private individuals on classified listing websites and social media platforms
Contents Overview & Quicklinks
Donating neck braces to State Assistive Technology Programs
Donating a neck brace to refurbishing and reuse Centers
Donating a neck brace to Centers for Independent Living
Donating a neck brace to Loan Closets
National and international organizations which accept medical equipment donations
Online listing sites where you can donate a neck brace near you
Donating a neck brace in your neighborhood
Organizations near you which may know where to donate a neck brace
Donating a neck brace to State Assistive Technology Programs
State Assistive Technology Programs (AT Programs) – State AT programs all have some system by which they accept donations of all types of assistive devices and durable medical equipment, such as neck braces.
State residents are supposed to have greater access to assistive technology devices (includes medical equipment) through their AT program.
State AT Programs will generally have –
- equipment lending libraries
- equipment exchanges
- demonstration centers
- reuse and refurbishing centers
Your neck brace donation will be redistributed to others who use the AT program to gain access to the equipment that they require.
If you wish to learn more about donating to your particular state AT program, click on your state in the list below.
Click on your state to go to your State AT Program website
Donating a neck brace to Refurbishment and Reuse Centers
These two types of center are both very good places to donate your neck brace.
Medical equipment refurbishment centers accept equipment donations, and will complete any repairs required, sanitize, and then find a new home.
A reuse center will accept equipment that is in a good enough condition to be offered to someone else, without doing anything to it.
Generally, both medical equipment refurbishing centers and reuse centers will redistribute your donation, to individuals at the lowest possible cost, or for free.
To find a center near you, just do a search on the internet.
Donating a neck brace to a Center for Independent Living
Your local CIL provide services to individuals with disabilities so that they may live independently in the community. Most CILS have medical equipment loan closets to help support their disabled members, you just need to check that they would be able to use your neck brace.
Centers for Independent Living
“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 find and contact the nearest center to you, go to this website.
Donating a neck brace to community medical equipment loan closets
If you donate equipment to loan closets, the items will be loaned out continuously, helping more and more people in the communities in question.
Medical equipment loan closets play a vital part in providing durable medical equipment, assistive devices and medical supplies to community members in the form of equipment loans, which is a great benefit to those in need, in particular seniors and individuals with disabilities – depending on the loan closet, those in needs will come first.
How to find a loan closet ? –
Do your search systematically, in just a few ordered steps, starting with several online searches –
- I like to start by searching for loan closets online with these search terms – “medical equipment loan closet + your location”, “medical equipment lending closet + your location”, “medical equipment lending bank + your location”, or “medical equipment bank + your location”
- if you didn’t get any search results, I would go straight to contacting your county Area Agency on Aging – they help the over 60s to get access to the community services available to them – you’ll be able to find your county agency with the official locator tool here
- human resources or seniors department very often supervise medical equipment loan closets for their community members, so you may want to make inquiries there
- do some research online for local reuse or medical equipment refurbishing centers, and make inquiries there
- Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and American Legion Posts – I have in the past found dozens of community loan closets run by these three organizations, so I would suggest contacting any near you
To find Lions Clubs in your area, take a quick look at my guide here – How To Find A Lions Club Near Me ? A Very Quick Illustrated Guide
To find Rotary Clubs in your area, take a quick look at my guide here – How To Find A Rotary Club Near Me ? A Very Quick Illustrated Guide
Bikur Cholim or Medical Equipment Gemacht – (Jewish medical equipment loan closets)
These loan closets are run by, and for, the Jewish community.
You can ask at the local Jewish senior center, synagogue, or search online at the Chesed Match website.
National and International organizations which accept donations of a neck brace
Goodwill
To donate your neck brace, locate a store near you and give them a call – https://www.goodwill.org/locator/
Salvation Army
To donate your neck brace, click on the following link – https://satruck.org/
EasterSeals
To locate your local affiliate to make your neck brace donation, use this link – https://www.easterseals.com/connect-locally/
The Partnership for Quality Medical Donations
Their website page for donating a neck brace is here – http://www.pqmd.org/pillars/donation-guidelines/
Project Cure
Their website page for donating your neck brace is here – https://projectcure.org/donate-supplies-equipment
REMEDY – Recovered Medical Equipment for the developing World
To donate your neck brace to REMEDY, use this web page here – https://www.med-eq.org/Login/form.aspx?type=donate&quick=1
Advocates for World Health
The page for donating your neck brace is here – https://awhealth.org/donate-medical-equipment/
Esperenca
To donate your neck brace, go here – https://www.esperanca.org/donate-supplies/
MedShare
Got to the MedShare website to donate your neck brace here – https://www.medshare.org/
HERO Healthcare Equipment Recycling Organization
You can find about donating your neck brace on their website here – https://www.herofargo.org/wp-content/uploads/IndividualSupplies.pdf
MedWish
The page for donations is here on their website – https://www.medwish.org/give
Global Links
To donate your neck brace, go to this website page – https://www.globallinks.org/our-work/programs/medical-surplus-recovery-program/individual-and-community-surplus-recovery
Global Mobility USA
You can donate your neck brace at this web address – http://www.globalmobilityusa.org/equipment-and-in-kind-donations
Medical Bridges
This is the donation page on their website – http://www.medicalbridges.org/donate/medical-supplies-and-equipment
Online listing sites and other social media platforms where you can donate a neck brace near you
For me, the great advantage with donating equipment on online listings, and social media platforms, is that you get to choose in which neighborhoods you are donating to people, and you can make it as near to home as you wish. You will get to choose the size of the area within which your advertisement/posting is seen.
You should always be a little careful when donating items online –
- in the item description in your ad, you need to say that you are donating the neck brace “as is”, and that if the future user has any problems with it, you are in no way liable for this
- if you are caring for an elderly person in your home, to keep them safe and to respect their privacy, don’t let strangers into your home for the neck brace pick-up
- organize to hand over your neck brace in a public place, and if you feel vulnerable, go with a friend
- for classified listings, such as Craigslist, it is best to use a throwaway email address for your advertisement
Online platforms where you can donate your neck brace –
- Craigslist.com
- UsedHME.com
- Nextdoor.com
- Facebook.com
- Freecycle.org
- OfferUp.com
I have short illustrated guides on how to donate new, or used, devices on each one, if you haven’t done this before –
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 a neck brace in your neighborhood
If you would rather take a look around your neighborhood in person, then the following are a few places which may well be interested in your neck brace –
- Local Hospitals
- Emergency rooms
- Thrift stores
- Senior Centers or Elderly Day Care Centers
- Veterans Centers
- Local Retirement Homes
- Churches
- Your local council Seniors’ department
Organizations near you who may know where to donate a neck brace
If you’re still looking for advice on where to donate your neck brace, try talking to some of the following organizations –
Area Agency On Aging
If you haven’t talked to them yet, contact your Area Agency on Aging. They are going to be a gold mine of information, and I would always check with them first.
Use the Area Agency on Aging locator tool to find your agency – click here.
Social Services
Social Services departments will know of the different charities running programs for all sorts of different people in need, and may be able to put you in touch with the right person.
Faith-based Charities
The Catholic Charities and Society of St Vincent de Paul
Both of these charities have chapters throughout large parts of the US, offering multiple services/programs to low income families, the homeless, refugees, and victims of abuse. They are obviously not the only charities running programs, but they have a very comprehensive and evolved support network for the individuals they are helping.
Either one may know of any loan closets, organizations or have individuals in mind in their programs who would greatly appreciate your neck brace.
To find a chapter of either charity in your area, search “name of the charity + where you live”, on the internet.
Local Town Hall or Chamber of Commerce
Your town hall or chamber of commerce should have records of nonprofit organizations, charities which are refurbishing and redistributing durable medical equipment in your area, so I would go ask, and find out which ones may be worth contacting.
Why isn’t your neck brace being accepted ?
Possible reasons why your neck brace keeps being rejected –
- it’s not in great condition
- a used neck brace will have to be sanitized, and some organizations do not have the protocols or equipment in place to do this legally
- used neck braces no longer carry a valid warranty
- state laws governing the reuse of medical equipment
Tax deductions on donations
Keep your receipt for any donations that you make to any charities, if you are hoping to get a tax deduction – the IRS will require the receipt for the item.
I’m Gareth, the author and owner of Looking After Mom and Dad.com
I have been a caregiver for over 10 yrs and share all my tips here.
