Donation of Items

Poverty means many in our community struggle to keep food on the table. You can fight food insecurity by ensuring that those in need have nutritious food at home to fuel their bodies and their future.

Most needed items:

• Canned Items
• Rice, Pasta, Sauces
• Tea, Instant Coffee, etc
• $25 Gift Cards (Superstore, No Frills, Walmart Etc)

Printable Poster & Most Needed List

UGM’s Women’s Recovery Programs are a lifeline of tranquillity and care for women and mothers with infants. In nurturing communities, mothers heal, families are restored, and futures are transformed one courageous step at a time. Every package of diapers, formula and infant supplies reflects the truth that dignity is in the details.

Most needed items needed

• Diapers (Sizes 3-6)
• Powered Formula (non expired)
• Baby Wipes

Printable Poster and Most Needed List

You can help ensure that families have what they need to brighten the holidays. Our Gifts of Hope storefront is set up to support over 300 children and youth, and for families to shop the shelves for the items best suited to create smiles and laughter throughout the Christmas season. 

Most needed items

• Toys/Books (ages 0 – 18)
• Winter Clothes (Ages 0 -18)
• Art Supplies/Craft Kits
• $25 Gift Cards (Sport Chek, Walmart, Shoppers Drug Mart)

Printable Poster and Most Needed List

Help us break the cycle of homelessness at a street level.

UGM is in need of basic items and critical emergency supplies for our Outreach teams to support neighbours struggling with homelessness. 

We have partnered with The Bargains Group to help maximize your impact. The Bargains Group is UGM’s wholesale partner and is able to secure supplies and bulk donations at 1/3 the price of purchasing items at retail. 

If you would like to help us by purchasing and donating items to UGM, we suggest reaching out to The Bargains Group. In addition to supplying UGM with our most needed supplies at the best value, The Bargains Group will also include free donations for each non-profit and charity order from their Full Circle Donation Program.

Are you looking for an engaging corporate/group volunteering or team building activity?

Help us breakdown barriers and restore dignity throughout our communities. From daily hygiene kits to welcome packages for individuals and families - we need your help! Your group can make a difference through UGM’s partnership with Kits For A Cause. 

The team at Kits For A Cause will guide you through the process of purchasing and assembling Care Kits for individuals in need, as well as delivering the kits to UGM. This program was developed specifically to accommodate groups of all sizes, whether you're volunteering with friends, family, colleagues, or on your own. From groups of 3 to 10,000, your contribution directly impacts our community.

Fill out the inquiry form for more information and the Kits For A Cause team will guide you through the process to ensure a seamless experience.

Join us in breaking cycles at the street level. UGM gratefully accepts weather appropriate clothing, personal hygiene items and other essentials. Please only donate new and unopened personal hygiene items, socks and underwear.

Personal Hygiene Items

• shampoo & conditioner
• soap
• toothbrush & toothpaste
• razors & shaving cream
• anti-perspirant and deodorant
• period products pads, tampons
• hand sanitizer
• lip balm
• sunscreen
• travel-sized first aid kits
• travel-sized packages of disinfecting wipes
• hand warmers

Clothing: Larger sizes preferred

• socks
• underwear
• hats (baseball hats, summer hats, winter hats and toques)
• warm gloves
• shoes (sandals, sneakers, boots, work boots)
• long underwear
• men’s & women’s short-sleeve and long sleeved shirts
• men's & women's sweatshirts and fleece
• men’s & women's shorts
• men's & women's pants and jeans<
• men's & women's jackets and coats

Other Essentials

• emergency blankets
• sleeping bags
• rain ponchos
• reusable water bottles & bottled water
• reusable coffee mugs with lids

UGM gratefully accepts the following items for our Thrift Stores

• men's & women's clothing
• men's & women's shoes and accessories
• linens (i.e. bedding, towels, curtains)
• jewelry
• books (no textbooks or encyclopedias)
• CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray, records
• small household items and small appliances
• antiques and collectibles, knick-knacks and seasonal decorations
• small musical instruments
• bicycles and sporting goods
• coffee tables, side tables and dressers
• chairs, recliners and love seats

We do not accept:

• baby & children’s equipment (i.e. strollers, cribs, car seats)
• bed frames & mattresses
• large furniture (i.e. grandfather clocks, china cabinets)
• large appliances (ie. refrigerators, stoves, laundry machines, BBQs)
• fitness equipment (i.e. treadmills, benches, weights)
• bicycles, ski, snowboard and golf equipment
• large musical instruments (i.e pianos and organs)
• outdated technology (i.e. electronics 10 years or older, including computers, cell phones, printers, fax machines, VCRs and televisions)  Household Items & Furniture

It depends! UGM follows Canada Revenue Agency guidelines and regulations around issuing tax receipts, which require the charity to determine the fair market value of an item. Due to the difficultly of determining a fair market value for used goods, UGM generally does not provide tax receipts for used items. 

New items may be eligible for a tax receipt.

To check if your donation is eligible for a tax receipt, please contact our Donor Relations team. 

Yes, please get in touch with us to make arrangements for a location and time. 

• Excess inventory or donations from a business, please contact [email protected] or 604.215.5441 ext 462 to coordinate your donation.
• Large donations of food or produce, please contact our Kitchen Manager at 604.253.3323 ext 335.
• Moving and have a lot of furniture to donate? Contact our Distribution Centre at 604.837.9110 or schedule a drop-off time online.

Not sure who to contact, please email [email protected] or call 604.215.5443 and our Donor Relations team can help direct your inquiry.

We ask that you donate new and gently used items to ensure that all community members are treated with dignity and care. For safety, we also cannot distribute used hygiene items or opened food items. 

As a guideline, only donate items that you personally would use or wear. Opened or worn out items cannot be used and must be disposed at a cost to UGM. Thank you for your thoughtfulness!

All donations are processed and inventoried at our Distribution Centre, then distributed to programs across our 10 locations.

Before selling any items that are donated, we check our program teams to ensure donations are first distributed free of charge to our community members. Items that are not suitable for our programs will be sold at low cost at our Thrift Stores, given to other charities, recycled or disposed.

The UGM Thrift Store provides a low cost retail shopping experience in the Downtown Eastside. Community members are able to choose and purchase items they want for themselves. Staff often provide Thrift store vouchers for community members needing more assistance, so they can still choose their own items and have a dignifying shopping experience. 100% of the proceeds of the UGM Thrift Store go back into supporting UGM’s life-changing programs and services.

We provide over 700 meals daily to our community, which takes a lot of food to make happen! UGM budgets for all our meal programs and doesn’t rely solely on donated food items. If you are interested in making large donations of food or produce, please contact our Kitchen Manager at 604.253.3323 ext 335.

UGM partners with the Charity Car Program and Donate-a-Car Canada to accept donations of vehicles. Donors will receive a tax receipt issued by UGM. Contact one of our car donation partners to arrange a free towing or drop off of your vehicle.

You will be provided free towing, or you can drop off your vehicle to maximize your donation. When you donate your car, truck, RV, boat, or motorcycle to UGM through Donate A Car Canada, it will either be recycled or re-sold (depending on its condition, age and location). Donate a Car Canada will look after all the details to make it easy for UGM to benefit. You will receive a tax receipt after your car donation has been processed.

If you would like to donate a vehicle to one of our programs, please contact our Donor Relations team.

Yes, UGM is grateful to accept donations of household items, clothing and furniture from production companies and film sets. We can provide a letter of receipt. Please contact our Distribution Centre at 604.837.9110 to coordinate details.