Donating your gently used patient lift can make a huge difference to someone who doesn’t have the means to buy one. I know that I look long and hard for my mother, to find the best deals on any durable medical equipment she needs for our home.
If you have a patient lift in relatively good shape that you no longer have a use for, consider donating it to one of the numerous organizations, or on online platforms I have listed here – 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, private individuals on classified websites and social media platforms with marketplaces, and senior centers and veterans centers.
Contents Overview & Quicklinks
Donating a patient lift and other used medical equipment to State Assistive Technology Programs
Donating a patient lift to refurbishing and reuse Centers
Donating a patient lift to Centers for Independent Living
Donating a patient lift to Loan Closets
National and international organizations which accept durable medical equipment donations
Online listing sites where you can donate medical equipment near you
Donating a patient lift in your neighborhood
Organizations near you which may know where to donate a patient lift
Donating patient lifts and other used medical equipment to Assistive Technology Programs
Federal grants contribute to the establishment of State Assistive Technology Programs (AT Programs), which are dedicated to improving accessibility for individuals with low income, disabilities, and the elderly to assistive technologies, which includes durable medical equipment.
If you want to know more about donating your patient lift to your State AT Program, click on your state in the lists below, and you will get to your state program website.
Click on your state to go to your AT program website
Donating patient lifts to Refurbishment and Reuse Centers
If you choose to donate your patient lift to a medical equipment refurbishment or reuse center, it’s worth noting that they typically have programs specifically designed for redistributing donated items to individuals in need either for free, or for a very low fee.
Donating patient lifts to Centers for Independent Living
Centers for Independent Living frequently run loan closets, making them an ideal recipient for your donation of patient lift for the use 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 your nearest center, check this website.
Donating patient lifts to Medical Equipment Loan Closets
Medical equipment loan closets are another ideal destination for donating a patient lift, as they fulfill a crucial role by lending durable medical equipment to community members, with a specific emphasis on seniors and individuals with disabilities.
When you donate to these loan closets, your contribution will typically be borrowed by others at no cost.
The size of medical equipment loan closets can vary significantly, from large-scale operations managed by non-profit organizations serving an entire state to modest setups managed by a handful of dedicated local volunteers out of donated hall.
To find medical equipment loan closets in your area, you can start doing some online searches, and or, by contacting the following places –
- I like to start by doing a search online 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 try each of these in the order I have listed them here
- if I don’t get any results from my internet search, I’ll make inquiries with the county Area Agency on Aging – these agencies run services to help the over 60s to access to the community services available to them – check for your local agency on the agency locator tool here
- your town, or city council, human resources or seniors department, and may manage a medical loan closet for the local community, or be aware of other loan closets, so talk to them
- find and contact any local reuse or medical equipment refurbishing centers – again do a search for these on your search engine of choice
- Some Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and American Legion Posts will run medical equipment loan closets in their local communities, so make inquiries
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 – (Jewish medical equipment loan closets) These are available to members of the Jewish community.
Talk to your local synagogue, or search here on the Chesed Match website.
Great Lakes Loan Closets
If you live in Michigan, Wisconsin, Northern Indiana or Northern Illinois, you will have the opportunity to donate to a vast network of medical equipment loan closets.
This network comprises several hundred loan closets, all of which have been kindly listed on one website.
“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
If you live in the areas listed above and you wish to find a loan closet to donate your patient lift to, you will find the Great Lakes Loan Closet locator here – https://loanclosets.org/
National and International organizations which accept donations of patient lifts
Goodwill
To donate your patient lift, locate a store near you and give them a call – https://www.goodwill.org/locator/
Salvation Army
To donate your patient lift, click on the following link – https://satruck.org/
EasterSeals
To locate your local affiliate to make your donation, use this link – https://www.easterseals.com/connect-locally/
The Partnership for Quality Medical Donations
Their website donating page is here – http://www.pqmd.org/pillars/donation-guidelines/
Project Cure
Their page for donating is here – https://projectcure.org/donate-supplies-equipment
REMEDY – Recovered Medical Equipment for the developing World
To donate equipment 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 durable medical equipment is here – https://awhealth.org/donate-medical-equipment/
Esperenca
To donate, go here – https://www.esperanca.org/donate-supplies/
MedShare
Got to the MedShare website to donate here – https://www.medshare.org/
HERO Healthcare Equipment Recycling Organization
You can find about donating on their website – 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 patient lift, 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 contact them 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 where you can donate a patient lift near you
I like posting donations on online listings and platforms because it allows you to donate to someone as locally as you want – you set the size of the catchment area within which your advertisement is seen.
I will say, though, when caring for an elderly person at home, to ensure their privacy, don’t have individuals come directly to your home for the pick-up. Arrange a meeting in a public place to donate your item, or with a larger and more valuable item like a patient lift, you can have it delivered to the recipient and ask them to pay, as a free patient lift is a huge financial saving.
If I am posting donations on classified listings, I create a throwaway email address to prevent my personal email from being drowned in spam. Use a separate email address specifically for donation purposes.
With donating items on Facebook, Nextdoor, Freecycle and OfferUp you should not be having any problems with spam.
Lastly, do remember to protect yourself, by stating that you are donating your item “as is”, and that you accept no liability if the new user has any sort of accident or problem with the equipment. This can be written in the description of your item in your posting.
Sites where you can donate items –
- Craigslist.com
- UsedHME.com
- Nextdoor.com
- Facebook.com
- Freecycle.org
- OfferUp.com
I have short illustrated guides on how to donate 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 a patient lift in your neighborhood
If you don’t want to do any of this online, why not contact some of the following places in your area to see if they need a patient lift –
- Local Hospitals
- Emergency rooms
- Thrift stores – call first to check, though, as some not all do sell medical equipment
- Senior Centers or Elderly Day Care Centers
- Veterans Centers
- Retirement Homes
- Your local council Seniors’ Department – ask if they have a medical equipment loan closet
With such a generous donation, I cannot imagine you would not find a recipient at one of these sites above.
Organizations near you who may know where to donate a patient lift
Still can’t find a place to donate your patient lift? Here are a few organizations who may be able to tell you where to offer your equipment –
Area Agency On Aging
Area Agencies on Aging should know of any programs, refurbishing centers or loan closets.
To locate an Area Agency on Aging in your area – click here.
Social Services
Make inquiries with your local Social Services department, as they may also know of any programs that are accepting donations of durable medical equipment, such as patient lifts.
Faith-based Charities
Faith based charities do an enormous amount of work with individuals in great need, across the whole of the US.
The Catholic Charities and Society of St Vincent de Paul have chapters all over the US offering multiple programs to those in need, and they also may know of any loan closets, or individuals who would appreciate your donation.
The contact information for the chapters of these charities, in your area, can be found by typing the “name of the charity + where you live”, into the web browser of your choice.
Local Town Hall or Chamber of Commerce
Your Town Hall or Chamber of Commerce will have a record of nonprofit organizations, charities and community groups refurbishing durable medical equipment in your area, so talk to them and get that information.
Reasons why your patient lift may not be accepted
The four main reasons your donation of a patient lift isn’t being accepted –
- it’s a bit messed up, or defective in some way
- used medical equipment may need disinfecting and washing to avoid the spread of infection, and a lot of organizations are not equipped for this
- Companies may not want to handle used medical equipment which has lost its 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.
