For several years, Syracuse Zonta Club collected and donated 100’s of gently-used bras to Free the Girls, a charitable organization that helps women and girls support themselves after being rescued from sexual traffickers in Africa and Central America. In El Salvador, Cost Rica, Mozambique, Zambia, and Uganda, sidewalk shops are a common and affordable marketplace for used clothing. By supplying these women with used bras, they are able to earn a modest living and, ideally, keep away from predatory traffickers.

(At the present time, Free the Girls is not collecting used bras for shipping overseas – instead they are accepting cash donations to support their other programs for rescued women. See www.freethegirls.org for current information.)

In 2023 and 2024, Syracuse Zonta Club collected used pill bottles for donation to medical clinics both in the US and in Africa. Locally, pill bottles were donated to the Poverello Health Center, which provides free health services to people who have no other access to medical care. The bottles are used to provide the patients with needed medicine. Earlier, donations were given to the Matthew 25 Farm program, for use overseas.

For further information see www.assumptionsyr.org/clinic or www.m25m.org

Since 2021, used sneakers have been collected and recycled through a program called Got Sneakers. After searching the closet floors of members and friends, sneakers are collected and shipped to a facility in Florida, where they are resold or donated (if usable) or deconstructed for reclamation and reuse of components (such as rubber). As small amount of money is received for donations of some name-brand used sneakers. For more current information, see https://gotsneakers.com