Ever felt guilty about tossing out old-but-still-good threads? April Nigh, Chair of the Rotaract Clothing Drive, tells us how much they want our pants.

Is this Beijing’s first used clothing drive?
As far as I know, other than ad hoc drives in response to the 2008 earthquake, there has never been any type of formal, city-wide charitable clothing drive event in Beijing. A lot of foreigners here are used to donating unwanted clothes to charitable organizations in their home countries, and there are actually many charities around China that are in desperate need of clothing. Our intent is to bridge this gap and build a mechanism for clothing donations in Beijing.

So where can we send our clothes?
The clothing drive will take place from January 10-30, with collection sites at: Nearby the Tree in Sanlitun, Frontiers School in Dongzhimen, Salud on Nanluoguxiang, Istanbul on Jianguomen, Tim’s Texas BBQ on Dongdaqiao/CBD, The Bridge Cafe in Wudaokou and Roundabout in Shunyi.

Any items we should leave out?
YES! We won’t take any stained or ripped items. We only want very clean and very gently used adult and children’s clothing, and prefer winter garments, such as jackets, coats, sweaters, etc. We also accept shoes, blankets and quilts.

Is this going to be a regular thing?
lf the event goes smoothly this year and our partners are happy, we hope to turn it into a yearly thing.

Rotaract Clothing Drive
www.rotaractbeijing.org/clothing-drive
Jan. 10-Jan. 30