Frequently Asked Questions

Pickup Service Questions

1. How can I make a household discard donation?
   
   1. We do not ask for your time or money.
   2. Visit our "REQUEST A PICKUP" page for fast and easy scheduling.
   3. You may take your donation to one of our attended donation centers throughout the metropolitan area.
   4. Our Purple Heart representatives will call periodically asking for usable household discards that you no longer have a need for. You can help support the many programs by saving all of your household discards until a representative calls.
   5. You may also contact us directly at 713-685-5400 to schedule a pick-up.

2. What happens to the donations?
   
   1. Donations are sold in bulk to soft goods recyclers- where they are sorted and graded for resale. This helps in three ways:
      1. Provides employment for members of your community
      2. Enables many less fortunate people to purchase good clothing and household items at a greatly reduced price.
      3. Provides funds for veteran's organizations.

3. Where does the money go?
   
   1. The proceeds from the bulk sale of household discards goes to the Purple Heart Service Foundation to support over 200 chapters throughout the country. These chapters are engaged locally in civic and welfare work in the interest if U.S. veterans and needy citizens. Chapters and auxiliaries carry on a welfare program under the direction of the Veterans Administration Volunteer Services in their hospitals.

General Questions

1. Will I get a tax receipt?
   The Purple Heart professional driver will leave a tax receipt at your house where there is a donation. All donated items are deductible from your income tax at their Fair Market Value. It is up to you, not Purple Heart, to determine the Fair Market Value of the donated items. The government advises that the Fair Market value is the price which a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to accept.

2. Do I have to be home for the pick-up?
   NO! Just leave the donation outside your front door by 8am. Please make sure all of the packages/donations are marked for Purple Heart. This ensures that the driver knows what packages are meant to be donations.

3. What if the weather is bad?
   Purple Heart will pick up in any weather condition, provided safe vehicle operation. If we need to cancel your pick-up, we will notify you as soon as possible by telephone with a rescheduled date.

4. How often do you come in my area?
   Every 4-6 weeks.

5. Why don't you come into my area?
   At this time, we only have so many route trucks available for the pick-up service. Since we are continually changing and updating our pick-up areas, it is possible that we will be able to offer our front door pick-up service to you at some time in the future. Until that time, we welcome your donations at one of our drop off locations.

6. Where are the donation drop off locations?
   There are over 25 locations excepting donations for Purple Heart National Service Foundation. For the closest location near you, please go to our Contact Us page or call us at 713-685-5400.

   You may donate them immediately by simply dropping them off at one of the following Purple Heart Attended Donation Centers- conveniently located near you.

   These are the hours that the centers are open:

   Summer months (April - November) = 10am - 7pm
   Winter months (December - March) = 10am - 5pm

7. Why is there a minimum amount (2 bags) required to for a pick-up?
   Paying a driver, insurance premiums, truck maintenance and the price of gasoline require that a certain amount of donations be picked up by each truck. We ask for several bags/boxes at each stop, to guarantee that enough funds are generated to cover the cost of picking up the goods and meeting the needs of Purple Heart National Service Foundation.

8. The driver never came by to pick-up the donation?
   Please go to the "CONTACT US" page or call us at 713-685-5400.

9. I forgot to put my donation out, can I reschedule?
   Please go to the "CONTACT US" page or call us at 713-685-5400.