If you have an electric blanket which is still in good shape, generously donating it to someone who really needs it, can make a great difference to their quality of life. Electric blankets can be donated to all sorts of charity programs organizations, or person to person online. So let’s see specifically where you can do that.
Where to donate an electric blanket? Gently used electric blankets can be donated to all of these places – State Assistive Technology Projects, online equipment exchanges, reuse centers, DME loan closets (state and local), Bikur Cholim, non-profit organizations, thrift stores, medical equipment refurbishment projects, faith based charities, senior centers, veterans centers and local churches, or you can donate directly to private individuals on classified listing websites and social media platforms.
Below you will find exhaustive lists, along with full explanations of all of these examples.
Contents Overview & Quicklinks
Donating an electric blanket and other used medical equipment to State Assistive Technology Programs
Donating an electric blanket to refurbishing and reuse Centers
Donating an electric blanket to Centers for Independent Living
Donating electric blankets to Medical Equipment Loan Closets
National and international organizations which accept durable medical equipment donations
Online listing sites where you can donate an electric blanket near you
Donating an electric blanket in your neighborhood
Organizations near you which may know where to donate electric blankets
Donating electric blankets to Assistive Technology Programs
Assistive Technology Programs (AT Programs) are state programs to increase access to assistive technology devices (items which help people in their daily activities), with a focus on helping those on low incomes, the disabled and the elderly.
The state, that you live in, will have centers for equipment demonstrations, equipment maintenance, equipment loans, and possibly an online equipment exchange for their state AT program.
You can help your AT program by donating your electric blanket, adding to the supply of equipment available to others.
The centers are spread across each state, so you’ll have to find the one nearest to you to donate your equipment. To do so, select your state in the list below to learn more about donating to your state program – it will take you to your state AT Program website.
Click on your state to go to your AT program website
Donating electric blankets to Refurbishment and Reuse Centers
There are two main types of center which deal with used medical equipment, and both are great places where you can gift your donation.
Refurbishment centers will take donations from the public, do any repair work, sanitize the equipment, and then find it a new home.
A reuse center will take your equipment if it is in good condition, they do not typically do any repairs or maintenance, and will simply offer it to someone else.
Either type of center usually redistributes your donation, with a priority given to individuals in need, the disabled, or elderly adults.
Donating an electric blanket to a Center for Independent Living
For those of you who expressly wish to donate to disabled individuals, a simple and very deserving place to do that is your local Center for Independent Living.
Your state 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
Most centers support their members with a medical equipment loan closet with all types of assistive devices and mobility equipment, and will very happily accept donations of equipment in good condition.
To find the Center for Independent Living nearest to you, check this website.
Donating an electric blanket to community medical equipment loan closets
A medical equipment loan closet plays a key role in any community, loaning out items from its stock of durable medical equipment, for free, to members of the community who need it.
Whether a loan closet lends to anyone in their community, or only to those who qualify on a needs basis – those with the greatest need come first – depends on the individual loan closets.
Donating your electric blanket to a loan closet, will make a difference in the lives’ of many people, as it will pass through many pairs of hands over its lifetime, and the loan will typically be free.
Locating a loan closet – I have found that it is best to just start by doing a few online searches and then make inquiries –
- my online searches are as follows- “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 that didn’t find anything, don’t waste any more time doing searches, instead contact your county Area Agency on Aging (more about them further down) – use the agency locator tool to do that here
- the human resources or seniors department of your local council may also manage a community medical equipment loan closet, or know of any in the area
- search online for your local reuse or medical equipment refurbishing centers, and see what they have to say
- Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and American Legion Posts – In my research for many articles I’ve come across many, many medical equipment loan closets run by these charitable clubs and posts for their local community, so I would suggest that talk to a few, near you
To locate a Lions Club in your area, check out my article 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 article here – How To Find A Rotary Club Near Me ? A Very Quick Illustrated Guide
Bikur Cholim or Medical Equipment Gemacht – medical equipment loan closets, available to, and run by your local the Jewish community.
To find one, talk to your synagogue, or search on the Chesed Match website.
National and International organizations which accept electric blanket donations
Goodwill
To donate your electric blanket, locate a store near you and give them a call. Here’s the store locator – https://www.goodwill.org/locator/
Salvation Army
To donate your electric blanket, click on the following link website – https://satruck.org/
EasterSeals
To locate your local affiliate and make your electric blanket donation, use this link – https://www.easterseals.com/connect-locally/
The Partnership for Quality Medical Donations
The page on their website for donating your electric blanket is here – http://www.pqmd.org/pillars/donation-guidelines/
Project Cure
The page on the website for donating your electric blanket can be found here – https://projectcure.org/donate-supplies-equipment
REMEDY – Recovered Medical Equipment for the developing World
To donate your electric blanket to REMEDY, follow this link – https://www.med-eq.org/Login/form.aspx?type=donate&quick=1
Advocates for World Health
The page on the website for donating any durable medical equipment is here – https://awhealth.org/donate-medical-equipment/
Esperenca
To donate your electric blanket, follow this link – https://www.esperanca.org/donate-supplies/
MedShare
Follow this link to the MedShare website to donate your electric blanket – https://www.medshare.org/
HERO Healthcare Equipment Recycling Organization
You can find out about donating your electric blanket on their website go here – https://www.herofargo.org/wp-content/uploads/IndividualSupplies.pdf
MedWish
The page on the website for donating your electric blanket is here – https://www.medwish.org/give
Global Links
To donate your electric blanket, check out this website page – https://www.globallinks.org/our-work/programs/medical-surplus-recovery-program/individual-and-community-surplus-recovery
Global Mobility USA
You can contact them at this web address – http://www.globalmobilityusa.org/equipment-and-in-kind-donations
Medical Bridges
To find out about donating your electric blanket, follow this link to their website – http://www.medicalbridges.org/donate/medical-supplies-and-equipment
Online listing sites where you can donate electric blankets to those near you
This is my preferred method, as I can set the advertisment/post to show only to people very nearby, on all the online platforms.
It is a good idea to take a few precautions if you donate your item on online –
1) If you care for an elderly loved at your home, it’s best to prioritize their safety, privacy and well-being. Having strangers coming into your home for an item pick-up is not really a good idea.
2) A public place is best to hand over your electric blanket, such as a car park or a mall café, and if you feel at all vulnerable don’t go alone.
3) If you use on an online classified listing website, such as Craigslist, you should create a throwaway email address, as it will most likely get inundated with spam messages.
4) This next tip applies to all online donations – in the description of your electric blanket, you should state that you are donating the electric blanket “as is”, and that you accept no liability for anything which happens after the fact. If you write this in the advertisement for the donation, no one can say that they didn’t know.
To find out how to make a donation of an item on Craigslist, UsedHME.com, Facebook, Freecycle, Nextdoor, take a quick look at my short illustrated guides for each of the 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 – I haven’t written an article on this, as there is already a very good video showing how to use OfferUp, see below.
Donating electric blankets in your neighborhood
If you prefer to make inquiries in person in your neighborhood, rather than doing it all online, I would check in with some of the following places –
- 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 which may know where you can donate an electric blankets
You may be able to get some helpful advice, specifically for your neighborhood, from the following places –
Area Agencies On Aging
Appointed by the state to your county, the job of an Area Agency on Aging is to assist the elderly to find out about and access services that are available to them in their community.
This is the number one place to start asking questions.
Any agency should be abreast of all the programs available to the elderly, which would appreciate your type of donation.
Locate yours with the agency locator tool – click here.
Social Services
Social Services department in your area is another administration which should be aware of the different programs being run by charitable organizations near you, hopefully including some loan closets.
Faith-based Charities
The Catholic Charities and Society of St Vincent de Paul
Both Catholic Charities and Society of St Vincent de Paul have chapters across US which run programs with multiple services to assist low income families, the homeless, refugees, and victims of abuse.
Both may know of a good new home for your electric blanket in your area.
To find the chapter which is nearest to you, do an online search like this “name of the charity + where you live”, and then give them a call.
Local Town Hall or Chamber of Commerce
I would also suggest that your Chamber of Commerce, which has the records of all the local non-profit organizations, charities and community groups in the local area, is another administration to talk to. You should be able to find out about those organizations dealing with used medical equipment.
Why isn’t your electric blanket being accepted ?
A few of the reasons why your electric blanket isn’t being accepted –
- it may be considered to be in poor condition, which with an electric item is too risky
- not everyone is equipped to sanitize used equipment, and an electric blanket will be a bit more tricky
- a used electric blanket is no longer under warranty
- state laws governing the reuse of certain equipment, may not allow for your equipment to be passed on by a registered organization
Tax deductions on donations
Hang on to the receipt from your donation that you make to any charities so that you can 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.
