Donate your hotel toiletriesEach Friday, we feature a reader-submitted tip as our Travel Tip of the Day. This week’s tip comes from reader Christine K., who added to this tip from a few weeks back:

“As an extension of this I wanted to share what I do with my unused hotel toiletries.

As a frequent traveler (business and leisure), I prefer to bring/use my own products from home. I still collect the toiletries from my stays, I remove them as soon as I enter the room each day of my stay. And when I have assembled a small plastic grocery bag full (which doesn’t take long), I trade off bringing them to my local children’s hospital or battered women’s shelter. I have received a great deal of gratitude from both organizations.

As a worker at the women’s shelter I donate the items to say many of the women and children who come to them arrive at night and in dire straits. Often times they have not had time nor opportunity to pack a bag or take any basics with them (not even a toothbrush). So having items like this helps the organization provide them with some bare necessities to at least make the night and following day or two just a bit more bearable. And being that many organizations like this operate primarily on donations (financial and otherwise), donating these items helps defray some of the costs.

The volunteers at the children’s hospital say that many times a parent (or both) will stay with a child during treatment. During their stay, there are occasions where a parent will need to shower in one of the facilities they offer on site (they can’t get away during treatment or their child may have gotten sick on them). So it is nice to have something like this to offer a parent. The volunteer told me, ‘It is amazing what a shower with nice smelling soaps or even lotion to help combat the dryness of hospital air can do to lift a parent’s energy level and help them remain strong through such a trying time.’

Sure it is a small amount of extra poundage I carry home with me, but it is a small price to pay when I consider the people these items go to help.”

I donate my toiletries, too, but I hadn’t thought of the children’s hospital or women’s shelter. Thanks, Christine!

 

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4 Comments On "Donate Your Hotel Toiletries to These Two Places"
  1. stacey|

    same thing … my daughter’s girl scout troop collects toiletries to distribute to abused women’s shelters, so i bring back as many as i can from hotel stays/flights. the shelters really appreciate them.

  2. Karen|

    Hi my name is Karen we have a Great Org.call 4 KIDS Charity & 4 KIDS Bag ,team rely entirely on donations from individual volunteers.They correct Hotel full size Toiletries and make hygiene bag for kids most of these bags or for teens that or homeless kids or unprivileged student and women abused shelter (make the kids care and hug bag. They are always running out of backpack,story book,comic book ( all age love them) and hygiene item. And so great about them it run by volunteers.

  3. Amazed|

    So you can find people in need in children’s hospitals and women’s centers, and in order to provide charity to alleviate that need, you can save some money and instead of purchasing the things you donate, you can steal them from a business.

    1. Johnny Jet|

      I wouldn’t call it stealing since the hotels usually throw them away after each stay

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