Frequently Asked Questions

We generally look for gently used bedroom, living room, and dining room pieces. Office furniture such as desks, file cabinets and chairs that are in gently used condition are also accepted.

Donations are ONLY accepted from 10am-4:30pm, Monday-Saturday. Please DO NOT drop off any donations when our thrift stores are closed. When furniture and other donations are left at our storefronts after regular business hours, those donations sit in unpredictable weather conditions and are oftentimes damaged by the time that the stores open up the next day. Home of the Sparrow also has to pay for extra services to have those damaged donations removed from our storefronts. Please be considerate of the Sparrow’s Nest Thrift Stores’ and Community Thread’s donation hours. Thank you!

Although we schedule the truck for furniture pickups ONLY, if we are there we can accept up to 5 bags of clothing. No breakables are accepted on the truck. We ask that donations that don’t include furniture be dropped off at one of our Sparrow’s Nest locations or Community Threads. If you have stained/torn clothing/linens that normally wouldn’t make it onto our sales floor, please separate them out into a different bag and mark as recycling. We are able to recycle clothing/linens that are not sellable. Please have gently used clothing bagged, and other items boxed to carry. If you have stained/torn clothing that normally wouldn’t make it on our sales floor, please separate them out into a different bag, and mark as such. We are able to recycle clothing items that we are not able to resell. We ask that donations that don’t include furniture be dropped at one of our Sparrow’s Nest locations.

• Any upholstery that has tears, stains, holes, fading, broken pieces or missing parts. The furniture needs to be free of water, mold and smoke damage
• Sleeper sofas (with pull-out beds) and water beds (landlords don’t allow them)
• Mattresses (will accept ONLY brand new in original packaging)
• We can not accept child car seats of any kind including: rear-facing, convertible, all-in-one, combination, or booster seats.
• Beds, bed frames, headboards, footboards, box springs
• Crib regulations that went into effect 6-28-11 have made all but the newest models unacceptable. Please check www.cpsc.gov/info/cribs for more info.
• Wood furniture items that are showing signs of warping, are cracked, broken, have major scratches, peeling paint or are moldy
• Exercise equipment
• Any type of computer equipment (such as computers, laptops, printers, monitors, fax machines)
• TV’s more than 8 years old
• Lawn and Garden equipment (lawn mowers, trimmers, snow blowers)
• Hazardous chemicals/materials and paint
• Outdoor grills
• Entertainment centers
• Encyclopedias and Textbooks
• China Cabinets
• Any kind of cable boxes/converters

No, we do NOT accept used mattresses. We ONLY accept BRAND NEW mattresses in its ORIGINAL PACKAGING.

Yes, we accept mattress TOPPERS if they are in “NEW” or “LIKE NEW” condition.

Please visit www.mattressinsider.com/blog/mattress-disposal for helpful tips on how to dispose of mattresses.

Although we don’t sell them in the Resale shops, the large appliances we use in the shelters are all donated items. Our families then move to section 8 housing, and usually the landlords provide the appliances. Therefore our needs aren’t great, but we always appreciate an offer, and will check agency-wide to see if a need can be filled. Please call us at 815-271-5444 to see if we currently have a need for large appliances for our housing units within our housing programs.

We accept TVs that are 8 years or newer and in perfect working order. All TVs have a date of fabrication printed on the back. Please check before scheduling with us. We no longer offer pickup of TVs unless a furniture pickup has already been scheduled. Please have TV hooked up and ready to show our Logistics Team so they can verify it is in working order. Due to the Illinois E-Waste Disposal Regulation effective 1/1/2012, the Sparrow’s Nest Thrift Stores will no longer accept donations of electronics which include: stereos, VCRs, DVD players, computers and monitors, fax machines, modems, and older TVs. Thanks for your understanding.

Please see our donation valuation information at the bottom of the page HERE.

Sparrow’s Nest & Community Threads Resale Store Furniture Donation Tax Form

Most calls are returned within 48 hours.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS ONLY: Algonquin, Antioch, Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Carpentersville, Cary, Crystal Lake, Deerfield, Dundee, Elgin, Fox Lake, Fox River Grove, Gilberts, Grayslake, Gurnee, Hampshire, Harvard, Hebron, Hoffman Estates, Huntley, Ingleside, Island Lake, Lake Bluff, Lake in the Hills, Lake Forest, Lake Villa, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, Lincolnshire, Marengo, McHenry, Mount Prospect, Mundelein, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Northbrook, Richmond, Ringwood, Rolling Meadows, Round Lake, Schaumburg, Spring Grove, Union, Vernon Hills, Wauconda, Wheeling, Wonder Lake, Woodstock

Cancer Federation, The Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity REStores, Junk Remedy, ReSupply