If you have “gently used” knee brace which you are no longer using, and you want to make a difference in someone else’s life, you can donate your knee brace to them. You don’t have to donate directly to someone, although you can do this very easily online, as there are also many organizations who will find new users for your donation.
Where to donate a knee brace? A gently used knee brace can be donated to –
- State Assistive Technology Projects
- online equipment exchanges
- reuse centers
- community medical equipment loan closets 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 knee braces to State Assistive Technology Programs
Donating a knee brace to refurbishing and reuse Centers
Donating a knee brace to Centers for Independent Living
Donating a knee brace to Loan Closets
National and international organizations which accept medical equipment donations
Online listing sites where you can donate a knee brace near you
Donating a knee brace in your neighborhood
Organizations near you which may know where to donate a knee brace
Donating a knee brace to State Assistive Technology Programs
State Assistive Technology Programs (AT Programs) – state AT programs will be happy to receive donations of all types of durable medical equipment and assistive devices, including knee braces.
State AT programs are designed to create the greatest amount of access as possible to assistive technology devices and medical equipment.
AT Programs have –
- equipment lending libraries
- equipment exchanges
- demonstration centers
- reuse and refurbishing centers
Your knee brace will make a generous gift to be loaned out, again and again, to those who use the AT Program in your state to get access to the equipment they need.
If you wish to learn more about donating your equipment to your 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 knee brace to Refurbishment and Reuse Centers
Both types of center are very good places to donate your knee brace.
Refurbishment centers take equipment donations, do any maintenance and repairs required, sanitize it, and then find a new owner for it.
Reuse center are a little different, in that they take equipment if it is in good enough condition, and offer it to someone else “as is” – they do not typically do repairs etc.
Medical equipment refurbishing centers and reuse centers will generally try to redistribute your donation, for as low a price as possible, so that people with a lower income can afford it.
Donating a knee brace to a Center for Independent Living (CIL)
CILs support disabled individuals to lead their lives independently within the community. Generally, CILs will have a medical equipment loan closet for the benefit of their members, to which you can donate items of durable medical equipment.
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
If they run an equipment loan closet to support their disabled members, they will appreciate donations, just call and check they need your knee brace.
To find and contact the nearest center to you, go to this website.
Donating a knee brace to community medical equipment loan closets
Community medical equipment loan closets are vital in bringing durable medical equipment to the community, in particular seniors and individuals with disabilities, in the form of equipment loans.
Your knee brace, once donated, is offered to any community members for borrowing, and generally for free. So, if you donate your equipment to a loan, you know that it will pass through many pairs of hands over its lifetime, benefiting many people.
Some may lend to anyone in their community, or only if a person qualifies on a needs basis – it depends on the individual loan closet.
How to locate a loan closet near you ? – when I am researching my articles, I find loan closets by doing the following –
- I do an online search with the following 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 that draws a blank, get in touch with your county Area Agency on Aging – it exists to aid the over 60s in accessing the community services available to them – check for your local county agency here
- human resources or seniors departments, will often manage medical loan closet for seniors, so give them a call
- do another online search, this time for local reuse or medical equipment refurbishing centers, and make inquiries about their services to see if they have a loan closet
- Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and American Legion Posts – many have community loan closets, so I would suggest contacting any near you to see if they have a loan closet
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 are run by, and for, the Jewish community.
To find one, you can ask at the local Jewish community center, synagogue, or search online at the Chesed Match website.
National and International organizations which accept donations of a knee brace
Goodwill
To donate your knee brace, locate a store near you and give them a call – https://www.goodwill.org/locator/
Salvation Army
To donate your knee brace, click on the following link – https://satruck.org/
EasterSeals
To locate your local affiliate to make your knee brace donation, use this link – https://www.easterseals.com/connect-locally/
The Partnership for Quality Medical Donations
Their website page for donating a knee brace is here – http://www.pqmd.org/pillars/donation-guidelines/
Project Cure
Their website page for donating your knee brace is here – https://projectcure.org/donate-supplies-equipment
REMEDY – Recovered Medical Equipment for the developing World
To donate your knee 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 knee brace is here – https://awhealth.org/donate-medical-equipment/
Esperenca
To donate your knee brace, go here – https://www.esperanca.org/donate-supplies/
MedShare
Got to the MedShare website to donate your knee brace here – https://www.medshare.org/
HERO Healthcare Equipment Recycling Organization
You can find about donating your knee 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 knee 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 knee 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 knee brace near you
From my point of view, this is the best method for donating if you want to donate to people as close to you as you choose to. You can select the exact area within which the advertisement/posting for your donation is seen, and you only have to go as far as you wish.
Now, having said that, you do need to be aware of a few things when donating items online –
- in the item description in your ad, you must state that you are donating your knee brace “as is”, and in no way do you accept any liability if there are any problems once you have passed it on to the new user
- if you have an elderly person at home, you don’t want strangers coming into your home to pick up the knee brace
- I would organize the hand-over of your knee brace in a public place
- for the email address you use on classified listing sites, such as Craigslist, make a throwaway email address for your advertisement, as it will get inundated with spam
Online platforms where you can donate knee braces –
- Craigslist.com
- UsedHME.com
- Nextdoor.com
- Facebook.com
- Freecycle.org
- OfferUp.com
If you have not used the sites above to donate an item, you may want to check out my short illustrated guides on how to donate new, or used, devices on each one –
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 knee brace in your neighborhood
For those of you who prefer actually going and talking to people, you may want to try going to 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
- Churches
- Your local council Seniors’ department
Asking organizations near you where to donate a knee brace
If you have had no joy in finding a home for your knee brace, I would ask these organizations for some advice –
Area Agency On Aging
I would start with your Area Agency on Aging, as they are the agency in your county responsible for helping the elderly to access the services available to them.
Use the Area Agency on Aging locator tool to find your agency – click here.
Social Services
Talk with your local Social Services department, as they should be aware of all the charitable organizations are running programs for different groups of people in need, and they may well be able to put you in touch with people looking for equipment.
Faith-based Charities
The Catholic Charities and Society of St Vincent de Paul have both got chapters throughout the US, with services/programs for low income families, the homeless, refugees, and victims of abuse.
Either charity’s local chapter, responsible for programs in your area, may know of any medical equipment loan closets, organizations or individuals who would appreciate your knee brace.
To find the chapters in your area, search “name of the charity + where you live”, on the internet.
Local Town Hall or Chamber of Commerce
Go find out at your local town hall or chamber of commerce and about the records they have of nonprofit organizations, charities refurbishing and redistributing durable medical equipment in your area, and see which ones you can talk to about donating your knee brace.
Why isn’t your knee brace being accepted ?
Sometimes your knee brace will be rejected –
- maybe it’s not in good enough condition
- a used knee brace may need to be sanitized, and a lot of organizations will not have the equipment or the protocols to do this
- used knee 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.
