giving back

These 8 charities in Houston will pick up your donations from home

Save time and money by scheduling a pick-up.

Photo by Hero Images/Getty Images

Whether the kids have flown from the nest, it's time to move, or it's starting to look like a hoarders situation, hauling those items you don't want or need anymore can be a hassle, especially in the summer heat.

But for numerous charities in the area, it's a great opportunity to give someone a helping hand, and they're not just happy to take items off donors' hands, they'll send a truck to the front door, load up the items, and be on their way. It takes just a few clicks to get a Houston-area service to come knocking and drive off with a load that otherwise (if one's being honest) would stay right where it is.

Here are eight options that will save a lot of time, energy, and, most importantly, money.

Arms of Hope
The Medina-based, Christian organization accepts clothing, furniture, toys, sporting goods, and other items. Schedule a free pick-up here or by calling 877-259-3744. The Houston outreach office can be contacted directly at 713-868-1309.

Houston Habitat for Humanity
The nonprofit needs new and used cabinets, doors, windows, carpeting and flooring, building supplies, lighting fixtures, and more. Schedule a pick-up by entering a ZIP code and selecting whether the destination is residential or commercial, and then explain what items need to be collected.

Houston Food Bank
The Houston Food Bank, which serves an 18-county region, accepts large amounts of items from food drives, and asks that pick-ups be requested with at least a 48-hour notice and for there to be enough items that could fill the back of a small pickup truck, otherwise collecting them becomes cost prohibitive. But first, the food bank needs donors to register their drives.

Houston Furniture Bank
This nonprofit charges $50 for furniture pickups. Items should be free of rips, tears, stains, and pet hair. They’re looking for essential items such as sofas and loveseats, upholstered chairs, coffee and end tables, dining room tables and chairs, and more.

Houston Local Charity
The nonprofit Greater Houston donation pick-up service accepts household items, electronics, clothing, and more. Note that free donation pick-up dates vary by the part of the region where items are located.

Purple Heart Foundation
The Houston location of this veterans organization accepts jewelry, hats, small furniture, radios and TVs, electronics, and other items. Through this service, you can simply schedule a pickup and leave the items at your front door. For more information, call 713-685-5400.

Salvation Army
Houston-area residents need only enter their ZIP code here, enter the number and type of items they want to donate, and schedule a pick-up. The Salvation Army Family Stores accept clothes, books, household items, chairs, couches, and miscellaneous things.

Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
The organization accepts gently used clothing, furniture, and more. The group asks that donors ask themselves whether items are in good shape and cleaned, don't have lead-based paint, never been recalled, and meet Consumer Product Safety Commission standards.

Vehicle donations
Want to get rid of a car, truck, motorcycle, boat, or RV? Numerous Houston-area nonprofits and services are ready to schedule a pick-up, generally regardless of the vehicle's condition. These organizations accept vehicle donations:

charity charity-guide

millennial magnet

Houston suburb surprises as a booming millennial hotspot in 2026

W. Goodrich Jones State Forest in Conroe, Texas

Photo by Obed Esquivel-Pickett on Unsplash

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A new Houston-area city has emerged a top destination for millennial movers, a new migration report has found: Conroe.

This surprising Houston neighbor ranked as the 15th most popular U.S. city for millennials in SmartAsset's annual report, "Where Millennials Are Moving – 2026 Study."

The report calculated the percentage of the total population represented by millennials (people aged 25-44) in more than 250 of the largest U.S. cities. Then it ranked the cities by the rate of millennials who moved there in 2024 (the year with the most recent available data), also as a percentage of the total population. Data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau's 1-Year American Community Survey.

According to the data, 9.14 percent of Conroe's total population were millennial transplants that arrived in the city in 2024. That means nearly 10,500 people between the ages of 25 and 44 packed up and moved to Conroe that year.

To zoom out on the city's greater millennial population, there are currently about 39,300 millennials who call Conroe home. These individuals make up around 35 percent of the city's entire population, the study determined.

SmartAsset also broke down how many millennial transplants arrived in Conroe from elsewhere in Montgomery County, a different Texas county, a different state altogether, and another country:

Moved in from same county: 5,383 people
Moved in from different county in same state: 3,802 people
Moved in from a different state: 863 people
Moved in from abroad: 423 people

Millennials make up about 36 percent of the American workforce, the report noted, so it's likely not a surprise that many of them would choose to live in a city like Conroe, who was among the most desirable suburbs to move to in America in 2025, and was also dubbed one of the best cities for renters that same year. Most recently, the suburb landed among the top 20 U.S. suburbs with the highest rate of new wealthy residents.

"With more flexibility than ever due to remote work and rapidly developing technologies, many Millennial households opt to move locations in pursuit of job opportunities, higher pay, preferable lifestyles, and family considerations, among other reasons," the report's author wrote.

The study proposed that U.S. cities that are successful in attracting newcomers within the 25-44 age group may see some benefits from "stronger and more diverse workforces, disposable income flowing to local businesses, and additional tax revenue." Yet it also warned that an influx of transplants can result in greater competition in a city's housing market and "a change in the business mix for preexisting locals."

The top 10 most popular destinations for millennials on the move in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Cambridge, Massachusetts
No. 2 – Seattle, Washington
No. 3 – Sunnyvale, California
No. 4 – Orlando, Florida
No. 5 – Arlington, Virginia
No. 6 – Austin, Texas
No. 7 – Bellevue, Washington
No. 8 – Sandy Springs, Georgia
No. 9 – Denver, Colorado
No. 10 – Santa Clara, California

millennials population smartasset suburbs conroe houston