Heartening

This project is built on the belief that if unwanted items knew where they were needed, people would help them get there.

Unwanted items usually wait years gathering dust in a closet, a garage, or storage unit before getting tossed into the landfill. Meanwhile, those very same items could answer the very pressing needs of people nearby. But, items don’t know that. So, we must help them find their way.

This idea is starting small in Austin but has a heart as big as Texas. We meticulously study where items are needed and wanted all over Austin. We catalog where to donate items in our database and share that openly through our website. We put our cowboy boots on the ground, too, and run a very busy donation sorting room. In just 440sq feet of space (the size of living room) we collect, sort, organize, and give away over 2,000 items every week. 

Each day, we believe more and more that we, as a community, are rich in what we share together, but poor in what we keep alone. We believe that we already have everything we need — we just need to share it.