Give clothes · Bloom Swap
Your closet can fit someone else. Clean, whole, and ready to wear.
Bloom Swap takes clean, whole clothing in every size, with shoes, coats and accessories, from anyone who wants to donate clothes in Salem, Portland and beyond. Everything is sorted and laundered before it reaches a rack, and nothing is ever sold. Bring it to a swap, or tell us what you have and we will say how to get it to one.
What happens to what you give
Donate clothes in Salem, Oregon, and know where they land.
A bag you give to Bloom Swap is opened, checked, sized, laundered and hung on a rack at a free swap, where someone who needs it takes it home.
Bloom Swap is a free clothing program of Bloom Ministries, a registered 501(c)(3) in Salem. People come to a swap, browse racks sorted by size and style rather than by gender, and take what fits who they are. Nobody pays, nobody is asked why they came, and nobody has to bring anything to take something. The racks are full because people empty a drawer.
What you give becomes Bloom’s inventory. Bloom stores it, sorts it by size and category, launders it, and delivers it to a host venue the day before a swap. What nobody takes that weekend comes back to storage for the next one. Nothing is priced, before, during or after a swap.
Many people give after a change: a closet that no longer fits the person wearing it, a move, or the clothes of someone who has died. You do not have to say which. Give all of it at once if that is easier. Sorting is our work, not yours.
Bloom Swap is a program of Bloom Ministries, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Salem, Oregon. Nothing at a Bloom Swap has a fee, and nothing donated is ever sold.
Check an item
Can I give this? Tap it and see.
Choose an item for a plain answer: yes, yes if new with tags, or not now, each with its reason.
Choose something from your closet.
The answer, and the reason for it, appears here.
Yes, please
Tops and shirts
Clean, whole and ready to wear. Every size, especially larger ones.
Yes, please
Jeans and trousers
Working zips and buttons, no heavy wear at the seams.
Yes, please
Dresses and skirts
Everyday and occasion wear alike.
Yes, please
Coats and jackets
The first rack to empty in the cold months.
Yes, please
Suits and formal wear
For interviews, court dates and ceremonies.
Yes, please
Shoes and boots
Clean pairs with soles that still have wear in them.
Yes, please
Belts, scarves, bags, hats
Accessories are sorted onto their own table.
Yes, if new with tags
Bras
New with tags only, for health and dignity.
Yes, if new with tags
Underwear and socks
New and in the packet, only.
Yes, if new with tags
Binders and gaffs
New only. They are set apart so they can be chosen privately.
Yes, if new with tags
Swimwear
New with tags only.
Not at a swap
Children’s clothing
Not at swaps. Tell us what you have and we will tell you where to take it.
Not at a swap
Bedding and towels
Swaps carry clothing only. We will point you to a shelter that takes linens if we can.
Not at a swap
Stained or damaged items
If you would not hand it to a friend, it cannot go on a rack.
Not at a swap
Toys, furniture, household goods
Clothing only, so the room stays a room of racks.
Not at a swap
Fabric and craft supplies
Not at the moment.
Undergarments, binders and gaffs are taken new only, because a guest deserves what anyone buying them would get. If you are unsure about something, list it on the form below and we will tell you before you carry it anywhere.
The standard
What we take, and what we cannot.
The test is simple: would you hand it to a friend to wear tomorrow? If yes, we almost certainly take it.
We take
- Tops and shirtsClean, whole and ready to wear. Every size, especially larger ones.
- Jeans and trousersWorking zips and buttons, no heavy wear at the seams.
- Dresses and skirtsEveryday and occasion wear alike.
- Coats and jacketsThe first rack to empty in the cold months.
- Suits and formal wearFor interviews, court dates and ceremonies.
- Shoes and bootsClean pairs with soles that still have wear in them.
- Belts, scarves, bags, hatsAccessories are sorted onto their own table.
- Bras new with tagsNew with tags only, for health and dignity.
- Underwear and socks new with tagsNew and in the packet, only.
- Binders and gaffs new with tagsNew only. They are set apart so they can be chosen privately.
- Swimwear new with tagsNew with tags only.
We cannot take
- Children’s clothingNot at swaps. Tell us what you have and we will tell you where to take it.
- Bedding and towelsSwaps carry clothing only. We will point you to a shelter that takes linens if we can.
- Stained or damaged itemsIf you would not hand it to a friend, it cannot go on a rack.
- Toys, furniture, household goodsClothing only, so the room stays a room of racks.
- Fabric and craft suppliesNot at the moment.
Children’s clothing is the question people ask most often. Bloom Swap cannot take it yet. Tell us what you have and we will tell you where to take it.
The reason for the line is the guest. A stained shirt on a rack tells the person looking at it what someone thought they deserved. Anything we cannot use is something we would rather you gave elsewhere than we had to set aside.
How to give
Two ways to get it to a rack.
Bring it to a swap, or arrange it with us. Either way, telling us first helps the right racks have room.
Bring it to a swap
Donations are taken at swaps. Bring your bags during an announced swap and a volunteer will take them from you and set them aside for sorting, so nothing lands on a rack unchecked. Dates are on the upcoming swaps page once they are set.
Arrange it with us
Bloom does not offer scheduled pickup yet. If you have more than you can carry to a swap, a car load or a whole closet, tell us, and we will arrange a drop-off with you and reply within two business days.
If your congregation or organization wants to collect from many people at once, that is a clothing drive, and it has its own page.
The form
Tell us what you have.
Your name is optional. One way to reach you, your nearest city, roughly how much, and how you would like to give it.
We keep what you send only as long as we need it to help you, and never sell or share it. Or write to swap@bloomministries.org.
We reply within two business days with a swap date you can bring it to. We keep what you tell us only as long as we need it, and we never sell or share it.
FAQ
Questions donors ask
Still asking? Write to swap@bloomministries.org and a person answers.
Will I get a tax receipt?
Bloom Ministries is a registered 501(c)(3), and Bloom issues an acknowledgment letter for donated goods; ask for one when we reply to your form, or when you drop off. The value you put on what you gave is yours to decide. Bloom is not a tax advisor, so ask yours how to treat it.
Do you take men’s clothes?
Yes. Racks are sorted by size and style, not by gender, so a suit, a work shirt or a pair of boots is as welcome as a dress.
Do you take plus sizes?
Yes, and especially. Larger sizes are hard to find second-hand, and a rack that carries them is a rack more people can use.
Can I drop off any time?
No. There is no drop box and no public drop-off address. Clothes are taken at a swap, or at a time we arrange with you, so nothing sits outside in the rain waiting for someone to find it.
Should I bring hangers?
Yes, please. Hangers are always needed, and clothes that arrive on them reach a rack sooner.
Do you take fabric or craft supplies?
Not now. A swap has no way to use them, and we would rather you gave them to someone who can than have them sit in storage.
Give clothes
Tell us what you have.
A bag or a closet, one form. We reply within two business days with where and when, and nothing you give is ever sold.
Looking for clothes rather than giving them? See the upcoming swaps