Purple Heart Donation Pickup: How It Works and What to Do If They Can’t Come

Purple Heart does pick up donations for free, in the areas GreenDrop covers

The Purple Heart Foundation’s pickup program runs through GreenDrop, a for-profit collector owned by Savers that picks up on the Foundation’s behalf and pays it for what it collects. In Washington, DC, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, you schedule online or by phone, leave bags and boxes by the road, and a truck comes by. The catches: it’s a curbside clothing-and-housewares service, not a furniture service; everything has to weigh under 50 pounds; and in most of the country there is no Purple Heart truck at all. Here’s how it works, what they take, and what to do if your address isn’t covered or your items are too big.

Check Other Local Pickup Options

How to schedule a Purple Heart pickup

Go to purpleheartpickup.org, which now sends you to GreenDrop, or call 888-944-3767. Enter your zip code; if GreenDrop runs trucks there, you pick a date. Bag or box everything, label each one “Donations for Purple Heart” so the driver collects the right bags, and set it by the road by 7 a.m. on pickup day. Drivers won’t come up a driveway or into an alley, and they don’t give a time window. You don’t need to be home.

Outside the mid-Atlantic, the Purple Heart Foundation lists other operators: Veteran Pickup in Alabama, DonateStuff in Michigan and Texas, Desert Thrift drop-offs around Phoenix, Value Village in Wisconsin, and trailer drop-offs in Connecticut. Everywhere else there is no Purple Heart pickup, and the Foundation’s own page says to check availability before you pack.

What Purple Heart accepts for pickup

Generally accepted

  • Clothing, shoes, purses and backpacks
  • Bedding, towels and rugs up to 6 by 9
  • Kitchenware and housewares
  • Books, CDs and DVDs
  • Games, toys and sporting goods
  • Small appliances and electronics, including flat-screen TVs
  • Small solid-wood furniture under 50 pounds

Not accepted

  • Most furniture: sofas, dressers, upholstered pieces, particleboard and wicker
  • Mattresses, box springs and bed frames
  • Large appliances
  • Tube TVs and computer monitors
  • Car seats, cribs and strollers
  • Exercise equipment, food and liquids

The 50-pound limit is the one that trips people up. A loveseat, a dresser or a treadmill won’t go on the truck even in great shape, and the driver decides at the curb. If you’re donating more than 40 boxes or clearing out a whole house, GreenDrop asks you to call instead of booking online.

When Purple Heart can't come: get matched with another nonprofit

Most people searching for a Purple Heart pickup hit one of three walls: their zip code isn’t served, the furniture they want gone is over the weight limit, or the driver left a piece behind. In all three cases the answer is usually another local nonprofit that runs its own truck. PickUpMyDonation sends one request to the nonprofit thrift partners that serve your zip code, including rescue missions, Habitat ReStores, St. Vincent de Paul societies and independent community thrift stores, and most of them do take sofas, dressers and dining sets. When a partner can use your items, they pick them up at no charge and contact you directly, usually within 48 hours. A match isn’t guaranteed; each partner decides based on condition, what sells in its store and its route that week. If nobody reaches out, no nonprofit took it, and the same form lets you choose Priority Pickup, a local hauler who quotes a fee up front and takes almost anything.

  • One form reaches every participating nonprofit in your area
  • Free pickup when a nonprofit partner accepts your items
  • Furniture and large items welcome, unlike a curbside bag service
  • Fee-based Priority Pickup, often within a day or two, as a fallback
Request a Pickup Match

Have furniture specifically? See what qualifies in our guide to free furniture donation pickup, or compare Salvation Army pickup and Goodwill pickup. If you’d rather your donation go to a veterans charity, our veterans donation pickup guide covers the programs that take clothes and furniture.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. GreenDrop picks up at no charge to you, then pays the Purple Heart Foundation for what it collects. GreenDrop is a for-profit company owned by Savers Value Village; the Foundation is the charity.

Only small solid-wood pieces under 50 pounds, like a nightstand or an end table. Sofas, dressers, mattresses and anything upholstered or particleboard are off the list. For those, use the form on this page to reach nonprofits that run furniture trucks.

GreenDrop lists Purple Heart home pickups for Washington, DC, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Separate operators cover Alabama, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin and the Phoenix area; Connecticut has drop-off trailers only. Elsewhere there is no Purple Heart pickup.

No. Put labeled bags by the road before 7 a.m. and the driver collects them. There is no time window, and drivers can’t use driveways or alleys, so the bags need to be visible from the street.

Drivers can decline anything over 50 pounds, anything on the not-accepted list, or anything damaged or wet. Donations sitting next to things that aren’t donations, like patio furniture or strollers, can get skipped too, so keep the pile separate.

No. We send your request to the nonprofits that serve your area and each one decides. Whoever can take your items contacts you, usually within 48 hours. If nobody does, no nonprofit took it, and Priority Pickup is available in most areas for a quoted fee.

Not in a Purple Heart area, or have furniture to move?

Enter your zip code, describe what you have, and we’ll send your request to the local partners who may be able to pick it up.

Request a Pickup Match