Pickup Please is the donation-pickup service of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), and its claim to fame is speed: in many areas it collects within 24 hours of booking, the fastest turnaround of any national donation service. The model is built for bags and boxes at the curb, you do not even need to be home, and resale proceeds fund VVA's veteran programs. Here is how it works and what it does and does not take.
Book at pickupplease.org by entering your ZIP code and picking a day; in many service areas the next day is available, a 24-hour turnaround no other major charity pickup matches. The service covers large parts of the country through regional operations, and the scheduler tells you immediately whether your address is served.
The model is contactless by design. Pack donations into bags or boxes, label each one for the charity so the driver takes the right pile, and set everything outside your door or at the curb by the scheduled morning. The driver collects whether or not you are home and leaves a tax receipt. Weather-protect boxes with a tarp if rain threatens.
The sweet spot is household volume: clothing, shoes, books, kitchenware, bedding, toys, small appliances, and electronics such as radios, laptops, and computers. It also takes categories other services skip: exercise equipment and weights, sporting gear, tools including saws and drills, lawn equipment like mowers and trimmers, and bicycles. Large furniture acceptance varies by area, so check when booking rather than assuming.
VVA sells donated goods to private companies by annual bid, and that revenue funds the majority of its local, state, and national programs for veterans, including advocacy and claims help. It is an efficient conversion: your closet cleanout becomes predictable funding without the charity running its own stores.
Last updated June 2026. Errors: [email protected]
Each national pickup service has a specialty, and Pickup Please owns speed and small goods. The Salvation Army is the choice for furniture and large items but books out days to weeks. AMVETS serves a limited state list with strict curb rules. GreenDrop covers the mid-Atlantic with drop-off sites plus home pickup. If your donation is ten bags of clothes and a box of tools and you want them gone tomorrow, Pickup Please is the strongest answer on the board.
Multiple charities run curbside routes in many neighborhoods, and unlabeled bags at the curb have been taken by the wrong truck or mistaken for trash. Writing the charity name on each bag takes seconds and guarantees your donation and your tax receipt line up. Put boxes where they are visible from the street, not behind a car or gate, and keep them separate from any trash cans out that day.
Most donation guides never mention that Pickup Please takes power tools, mowers, weights, and bicycles, categories that thrift stores accept unevenly and other pickups often refuse. For a garage cleanout, that makes VVA the single most useful truck to book. Working condition matters, a dead mower is scrap metal, not a donation, and draining fuel from lawn equipment before pickup is both required and courteous. Bikes go to resale that funds programs; see our bicycle donation guide for mission-focused alternatives.
The driver leaves a blank tax receipt; you list items and assign fair market values, so keep your own inventory, a phone photo of the pile is the easy method. Values follow standard thrift pricing, and noncash donations over $500 in a year need IRS Form 8283. Our donation value guide covers typical ranges and the documentation rules that keep the deduction safe.