Donate!
These are some places that I recommend that you donate to first, as the goods that you give them go to immediate effect:
Food Closets: These are wonderful places where people donate food and the workers give it out to those in need. Please give them non-perisables. They can also use hygiene products. I know that you see food drives around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but please try to remember, people who can't afford to buy food, can't afford to buy it year round. **I will be posting a site or two that you can find the one closest to you**
The Red Cross and Homeless or Battered Womens' and Childrens' Shelters: If you have clothes, blankets, household items, or anything that you don't use anymore, these are great places to give them as they go straight to helping someone in need. If you can't find one of these establishments around you, you can probably find a Goodwill, Salvation Army, or an AmVets (American Veterans) near you. Most of these places when you donate the goods they turn around and sell them, but the most good that comes from this is that they tend to hire those with diabilities or would, for whatever reason, have a hard time getting a job elsewhere. So, either way, you are helping someone, PLUS you are helping the environment! Since you are giving the item to someone who can use it rahter than throwing it away, you are creating less waste!
"No-Kill" Animal Shelters: poor little kittens and full grown cats, puppies and dogs, and sometimes rabbits end up in a shelter everyday, the only thing that saves some of them is that they are picked up by a "no-kill" shelter. "No-kill" shelters take the critters in and care for them and try to find them new homes until they are adopted or die of natural causes (except in instances where the animal is terminally ill, for I am sure that they would euthanize then...if this is wrong, let me know!). No-kill shelters are packed to the brim with cuddly animals all hoping to find a home, but these shelters have limited funding and if you could donate money, food, pet toys, cat litters, or any other pet product, I am sure it would be most appreciated (please, only new items though, as an old item donated may carry a desease from a previous animal and it could infect the whole shelter and that would be awful!)