ParentKind
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FAQ

Good questions.

Everything you need to know about donating, pickup, and how your school gets funded.

Every sellable item you donate to ParentKind gets tagged with your school's name (unless you're a pre-K family doing the Kindergarten Jump Start Program).

Fourteen days after an item sells, ten percent (and higher in the near future) of the sale price is credited to your school's PTA account. Every three months, we send your school a big fat check for the accumulated amount along with a card listing every family who made it possible.

Our long-term goal is to donate 25% of every sale to the donor's school of choice. Since this is a brand new company doing something we don't believe has been done before, we have to start at 10% to make sure that we are able to stay in business before we can bump up our giving to the level that we want to be at.

Our goal in year 3 is to be the biggest fundraiser for every local elementary school's PTA outside of their own internal fundraisers. As soon as we are on track to be financially solvent, we will raise our donation percentage. But we can't fund schools if we go out of business, and we're committed to this for the long haul.

PPS did close individual school foundations in 2024, but ParentKind recognizes the valuable work PTAs and PTOs are doing at our schools, stepping up to fund things like literacy support, art, and field trips that foundations previously covered. Our donations go to the PTAs and PTOs. We use the term "school funding" because PTAs are filling in a lot of the gaps that regular funding and foundation funding used to provide.

Kids' clothes, shoes, and accessories—hats, mittens, scarves, belts, sunglasses, backpacks, and water bottles. If your child wore it or carried it to school, it probably belongs here.

The one thing we can't take: items subject to a safety recall, and hard safety gear—bike helmets, car seats, and strollers. We can't verify the history of these items, so we don't sell them. Toys, games, puzzles, and electronics aren't part of our program yet either—but we're working on it.

When in doubt, toss it in the bag. Anything we can't use gets dropped at a local textile recycler or community organization—it won't end up in a landfill.

Nothing goes to landfill—that's the whole point.

Items that arrive too worn or damaged to sell get diverted straight to a textile recycler. Items that don't sell within 90 days go the same route. Either way, they stay out of the trash and get a second life as recycled material.

We love our local consignment shops. They're filling an important role, but many of them are not meeting busy parents where they're at. Most parents don't use consignment because it requires a trip to the shop, waiting for items to sell, dealing with unsold items—and consignment shops are picky about what they take. That's a lot of friction for a tired parent.

We buy everything else online now. Why should kids' clothes be different? If you want used clothes online, you're stuck with fast fashion. It's time parents had a real option: quality used clothes that are better for the environment, without the time-consuming process of going into a store on both sides of the transaction.

We pick up from your porch. You shop online. We deliver to your porch. No trips, no waiting, no rejection. And every purchase funds your kid's school—it's not just a transaction, it's a community effort. That's what makes ParentKind different.

Absolutely. We accept clothes and gear for all ages, and everything will be in our online store when we launch in the fall.

Our messaging right now leans toward elementary families—that's our pilot focus. But we're committed to building a robust selection for younger kids, and we're happy to take those donations now. Pre-K families also have a special program: your donations go into an escrow account that funds your school of choice once your child reaches kindergarten.

Nope! Anyone is welcome to participate.

To donate: The easiest option is often dropping bags off at our location in SE Portland—details on the pickup instructions page. If that's not convenient, reach out and let us know where you are. For families a few miles out, we can usually schedule a pickup once enough bags are ready to make the trip worthwhile. The further out you are, the more bags we'd need before a pickup makes sense. We'll always be upfront about what works.

To shop: Our online store is open to everyone. Porch delivery within our local area has a $35 minimum. If you're further out, we can often still deliver—we'll just need a larger order to make the trip worthwhile. Prefer to skip delivery entirely? You're always welcome to pick up your order directly from us.

We're not open for shopping just yet—but we're getting there.

Right now we're in our donation collection phase, building up the inventory that will stock our store at launch. We want to make sure we have enough to give every shopper a real selection, whatever size they're shopping for—and at our current pace we're targeting a spring 2027 launch. Every bag that gets dropped on a porch between now and then is going straight into that carefully sorted seed inventory.

Stay tuned—or join our text update list to hear the moment we open.


We'll come to you.

Fill out the form below and we'll be in touch to confirm a pickup time. No need to sort or fold—just bag it up and leave it on your porch. Porch pickup is currently available within our SE Portland service area. If you're not sure whether you're in range, fill out the form and we'll let you know.

ParentKind porch pickup service area

Outside our current area? Find out how to become a Neighborhood Captain →

Here's how the Kindergarten Jump Start works: When your child isn't in elementary school yet, we hold your donation proceeds in a personal escrow account—just for your family. When your child starts kindergarten, you choose which school receives everything that's accumulated. It's a meaningful way to start your school community relationship before your child even walks through the door.

We'll reach out when the time comes. For now, just tell us who you are and a little about your child.

@beparentkind