Clean out your gear closet and give it to those who want it.

Getting to your ideal camp setup isn’t easy, and for many people, it comes with a lot of trial and error. Backpacking and car camping can come with a hefty price tag – at least when it comes to buying our gear. A lot of us, myself included, justify spending hundreds of dollars on tents, sleeping bags, and other gear that we might use, generously, a few weeks out of the year. That’s not a bad thing, especially if you care for your gear to get the most use out of it, with the least amount of wear. But, eventually, we will either decide we want to upgrade for better features, newer bells and whistles, or any other reason. Getting new gear is easy, making sure that your old gear gets into the hands of people who will get the best use out of it after you’re done with it, is a little bit trickier. Thankfully, there are organizations in Chicago that want to take your old outdoors gear and give it to people who will appreciate its use.

Frustratingly, this list is not as long as I wanted it to be. Many of the organizations that first pop into your mind when you’re thinking of places to donate gear, actually don’t take it or aren’t set up to make sure it goes to the people who need it the most. I focused on including organizations with a presence in Chicago, who are established, and reputable in their services, and that don’t discriminate against those who receive their services because of their race, creed, color, affiliation, sexual preference, or gender identity.  

If you know of another organization that should be on this list, please reach out and let me know.

How used is too used?

Before we move forward, let’s talk about your used gear. If you’re like me, you try to keep it in good shape and use it for as many years as possible before upgrading. If you’re someone who isn’t like me, you might own heaps of barely-used camping gear that you tried along your journey to finding what works best for you. Both of these are perfectly good approaches, but we all have varying levels of comfort regarding how used our gear is for our own use. Before donating your old sleeping bags, tents, camp stoves, cooking gear, or clothing items ask yourself one important question and answer it honestly:

“Would I still use this item?”

Not “Do I think someone with fewer means then me wouldn’t mind using this item?”

Not “Do I think someone with less outdoors experience than me would be okay with this thing?”

Not “Do I think this gear is fine, as long as someone else performs extensive repairs on it before they use it?”

Only “Would I still use this item?” When I say “I” here I mean you, dear reader. If the item is not in a condition where you, personally, would use it in its current state, then it is not okay to donate to someone else.

If it needs to be cleaned or repaired, go ahead and do those things before donating that gear. All the gear you donate should be in ready-to-use, as-clean-as-can-be condition, without holes or wear that will make it less-than-usable for someone in need.

Where to donate your gear:

The Night Ministry

Who do they serve: Anyone in Chicago who struggles with issues surrounding housing insecurity, poverty, and homelessness, including health care, social services, community outreach, and spiritual care (when requested.)

What do they do: The Night Ministry is most visible when they take their mobile service unit (it’s a bus!) to communities who need those services, and provide food, medical care, and counseling to those who could benefit from them. The Night Ministry has been doing this vital work since 1976 when a coalition of North Side congregations wanted to provide services to people experiencing homelessness who lived in their neighborhoods. That mission has since expanded. Today, they also manage several shelters, including a youth-oriented one where those seeking services are not required to use their legal name or identify as the gender they were assigned at birth. Since LGBT youth are far more likely to experience rejection or harassment from family members for their sexual orientation or gender identity (and because people of color disproportionately make up the population of those LGBT persons who are experiencing homelessness) they are more likely than their cisgender, heteronormative or white peers to experience homelessness. The Night Ministry just wants to provide shelter, medical care, food and humanity, regardless of who you are.

Where do they operate:

The city of Chicago.

When do they need donations:

All year long, but right now they especially welcome winter and cold-weather gear.

What do they need right now:

The Night Ministry is fulfilling an important gap in services that exist in Chicago. Any time of the year they will provide direct support to any person who chooses, or has no other option, but to live on the street – and that is where your old camping gear comes in. Gear donated to The Night Ministry is distributed directly to the people they meet who stay outside. The things they need most include:

• Tents (four season is ideal, but not required, anything for 2-3+ persons is perfect.)
• Single-person sleeping bags (four season is best, but three season will work too.)
• Blankets and pillows
• Sleeping pads 
• Camp stove (with spare fuel)
• Cooking equipment and other gear.
• Warm winter coats and outdoor clothes that are not worn directly against the skin.
• New long underwear, new thermal clothes, new socks, new underwear, new sweaters. The Night Ministry does not accept these items if they are used, but they are vital if they are new. (You know how a fresh pair of socks feels when you’re out on the trail? Okay, now imagine that feeling but you’re never ever off the trail, and the trail is made of concrete.)

As long as the item is still in a condition that you, dear reader, would still use, The Night Ministry will accept it. When in doubt, donate it, and their staff will evaluate it.

What don’t they need or want?

Items worn beyond use or used items that are worn directly against the skin. (No used socks, used underwear, used thermals, used long johns, used sweaters.)

How can I donate:

Schedule your donation in advance with The Night Ministry by reaching out to Miranda Dean, Resource Coordinator. The Night Ministry has limited capacity for pickups but, especially for larger items, they may be able to come to pick those items up with advance notice. Drop off hours are 9-5, M-F, at their offices, 1735 N. Ashland Ave., Suite 2000, but those hours can be flexible when required.

The Union League Boys and Girls Club

Who do they serve:

Youth in Chicago who need a safe and supportive place to hang out after school, and who deserve the chance to experience the outdoors regardless of their family’s income or zip code.

What do they do:

This chapter of the Boys and Girls Club manages over a dozen different after school clubs in the city of Chicago. Over 15,000 kids are members of the Club, and the vast majority qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and are from minority populations. At the club they find mentors who believe in them, and a place where they have fun and feel safe.

The Club also manages the Union League Boys and Girls Club Camp, which brings approximately 1,000 kids each year from Chicago, and gives them the camp experience they deserve. The camp is located on Lake Francis, in Salem, WI., just the other side of the border from Illinois. There campers experience all the best that camp has to offer, including campfire ceremonies, storytelling, arts and crafts, boating, music, fishing, hiking and teambuilding. Y ‘know, camp stuff. Campers from low-income families attend one week of camp at no cost to them, but a second week may cost as much as $50 per camper, per week. No camper is turned away because of inability to pay.

Where do they operate:

The Union League Boys and Girls Club manages over a dozen after school clubs all over Chicago. Those clubs are scattered all over the city, from as far north as Bucktown, as far south as Auburn Gresham, and east towards Archer Heights. Those clubs give kids a safe place to stay, learn, grow, get support with their homework, learn something new, and become leaders in their communities.

When do they need donations:

Right now is a great time, especially if you’re trying to get rid of your old winter camping and hiking gear. They will accept donations year-round. While the bulk of their campers visit in the summer months, they do have winter outdoors opportunities, so coats, gloves, hats, boots, and other winter gear is welcome.  

How can I donate:

The club asks donors to coordinate their gear donation in advance. Reach out to the administrative office, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., in advance to coordinate that drop-off. Their contact information is listed here.

What do they need right now?

Sleeping gear:

Campers at the Union League Boys and Girls Club Camp stay in live-in cabins, so they need bedding for those campers who are unable to provide their own. The sleeping gear most in need includes:

• Sleeping bags – Single person, three- or four-season, in good condition.
• Twin bedding – In good, clean condition.
• Pillows – A stuff sack full of clothes might work for you and I, but not everyone.

Clothing

The camp is open year-round and serves many kids who come from low-income families, where high-quality winter clothes may not float to the top of the family budget. If kids arrive to camp without proper outdoor gear, The Union League Boys and Girls Club will provide those items to campers, if they have them. (The kids are not asked to return that gear at the end of their stay.)

The Union League Boys and Girls Club will take donations of quality outdoor clothing, which is clean, and in good condition. They are most in need of coats, snow pants, scarves, boots, hats, gloves, new wool socks, new long underwear, and new thermal shirts. Because they serve kids as young as 6 and as old as 18, just about every size is needed.

What don’t they need or want?

Anything beyond clothing or sleeping gear. They are not currently in need of any other supplies.

Chicago Voyagers

Who do they serve:

Chicago Voyagers was founded in 2008, as a local affiliate of the first Midwestern chapter of Trips for Kids, (TFK) which has been taking underserved kids on outdoor adventures since 1986. Groups on adventures consist of 8-10 teens between the ages of 12-18, and two chaperones. Programs happen rain or shine, but they do adjust the schedule if weather calls for it. Most of the program participants are low-income Chicagoans of color, and Voyagers will also make room for LGBTQ+ campers, or religious campers, who require extra accommodation to enjoy these adventures.

What do they do:

Chicago Voyagers takes kids from Chicago on canoeing, hiking, cross country skiing, rock climbing, river trips and camping adventures. Each year more than 400 teens from the Chicagoland area take outdoor adventures all four seasons of the year. Voyagers who complete these adventures report improved confidence, communication skills, teamwork and personal responsibility.

Where do they operate:

The campers they serve tend to be from Chicago, and the surrounding suburbs but the adventures these kids go on are all over the Midwest. Lake Michigan sailing adventures, canoe trips to the Boundary Waters, hiking trips to Busse Woods and Starved Rock, bikepacking trips to Wisconsin and Michigan, canoeing on the Mississippi and climbing both indoors and out.

When do they need donations:

Chicago Voyagers takes kids outdoors year-round, so they will take donations at any time. The bulk of the trips occur during the spring, summer, and fall. Chicago Voyagers primarily takes donations of items that are in excellent or like-new condition, but they do prefer to receive high-quality gear donations including brands like The North Face, Marmot, Granite Gear and Arc’Teryx, but they don’t care a lot about branding if the equipment in question is very good.

What do they need right now:

• Wool socks and warm hats of various sizes (especially larger hats that will more easily accommodate textured hair.)
• Base layers and fleeces jackets.
• Top quality rain gear.
• Climbing helmets that are under 5 years old and have had no impact of any kind. 
• 4-6 person tents with minimal wear – previous repairs are OK if done well.
• Keen sandals or something similar for paddling programs. 
• Water dromedaries 
• Whisperlite or Dragonfly stoves
• Bike kick stands
• Large camping screen houses
• Thermacell products

What don’t they need or want?

Gear that is excessively used or worn, or with unfortunate repairs. Chicago Voyagers will make repairs, when reasonable, to larger items including tents or sleeping bags, but they do prefer lightly used items from well-known brands, because that is in line with the experience they intend to provide their adventurers.

How can I donate:

Schedule your donation by reaching out to Chicago Voyagers in advance. Their contact information can be found here.

YMCA Chicago

Who do they serve:

The YMCA of Metro Chicago serves kids from all over the city, of all ages and income brackets. YMCA Metro Chicago manages five camps outside of Chicago, where urban-dwelling kids can enjoy classic camp experiences.

What do they do:

The YMCA provide fitness centers at affordable rates for the general public, but it’s day camps, after school classes, and community programs are what really transforms the Y into a community asset.

The Y’s BOLD GOLD Program (Boys Outdoor Leadership Development, Girls Outdoor Leadership Development) encourages kids who are 14 years or older to get even further into the backcountry than they would have experienced at other YMCA camps growing up. This program is in its first year in Chicago. Bold Gold trips can be adventures in backpacking, climbing, mountaineering, rafting, or canoeing (just to start.) Over 75 percent of the programs in this program will be minimum four nights in the backcountry, supported by a group of peers. Groups are created with a focus on diversity and inclusion, so kids from any zip code or income level has those opportunities. Campers who cannot afford expensive equipment or trips can quality for a full- or partial scholarship. The first trips in this program are expected to hit the trail summer 2022.

Where do they operate:

The YMCA is probably in your neighborhood, or pretty close to it. YMCA Metro Chicago has dozens of locations for community-centric activity and fitness, but they also operate low-income affordable housing for those who truly have not got many options a place to stay. The five camps they operate give Chicagoans the opportunity to get out into some of the most beautiful spots around the Midwest. Their camps also include year-round camping, family camping opportunities, and camps that support campers with special needs, including spina bifidia or other developmental or mobility challenges.

When do they need donations:

Winter is a great time to donate equipment, but backpacking equipment will get the most use during the spring, summer and fall months. The Bold Gold program is in its nascent beginnings, but the hope is to give those kids who have attended YMCA summer camps, but who are ageing out of that program, the opportunity to stay engaged and get even more involved in the outdoors.

What do they need right now:

According to Bobby Thomas, Executive Director at YMCA Camp Duncan and Camp Independence for YMCA Metro Chicago, they need just about everything. The program currently has a small handful of tents, backpacks and other basic gear, but to get the program up and running, they’ll need a ton more. Thomas is working on obtaining grants that would allow the Y to purchase new equipment, and equipment that should not be provided used, including socks and long johns. Currently they will accept donations of backpacks, boots, tents, cooking gear, sleeping bags, sleeping pads. Rain gear is especially needed, for either bodies or backpacks, would be very welcome.

As long as your gear is in good enough shape that you, personally, would still use it, the YMCA would be able to put it to good use.

What don’t they need or want?

Trekking poles, pocket knives, skis, snowshoes and other large winter gear. I guess kids just don’t use trekking poles like us olds do.

Again, if your gear is in a condition that you would not use, or that could not be easily repaired, do not donate it to the YMCA.

How can I donate:

Reach out to your neighborhood YMCA in Metro Chicago and ask to “Donate to Camp Duncan.” You should be able to drop your donated gear off directly at the front desk of your neighborhood YMCA. This advice is primarily for Metro Chicago YMCA, so suburban YMCAs may not be aware of the Bold Gold Program, but any of the city-based ones should be able to get your gear to the right place. If the representatives at the front desk are very confused, ask them to reach out to Bobby Thomas for follow-up. They will accept gear donations at any time the YMCA is open, but it never hurts to reach out in advance if you’ll be donating a large amount of stuff.

Evanston residents can donate their gear to the Evanston YMCA, and it will go to support campers at Camp Echo, but officially that is a whole separate camp system.