Where Can I Donate Board Games and Puzzles in Miami?

Give My Books Network collects games and puzzles free from your door anywhere a Local Pick-Up Partner serves your Miami ZIP code. Choose a service day, pack them, and set them out by 8 AM.

Saturday afternoon in Coconut Grove, the sky goes gray around two o'clock, the plans dissolve, and somebody opens the hall closet looking for the good puzzle. That closet is why board games matter here.

The Rained-Out Miami Afternoon Is a Local Institution

From May through October, Miami cancels its own outdoor plans most afternoons, and families, after-school programs, senior centers, and shelters all end up with two unexpected hours to fill.

Board games and puzzles fill exactly that hole, and they are chronically in short supply at the places that ask for them through the Give ME Books program.

What Games Does Give My Books Network Pick Up?

Nearly anything that comes in a box with a lid. Games, puzzles, and cards can all go out in the same pickup as your books and media.

• Board games, family and strategy alike
• Jigsaw puzzles, any piece count
• Card games and decks
• Kids' games and preschool matching sets
• Chess, checkers, dominoes, backgammon
• Trivia games, even the dated ones
• Video games and puzzle books

What About Missing Pieces?

Send the game anyway in most cases. A jigsaw missing two pieces out of a thousand still gets built, and a board game missing its dice can be played with dice from another box. A game missing its board cannot be played at all.

• If you know a game is complete, write it on a strip of tape. It genuinely helps.
• If you are not sure, send it. Partners sort offsite and can check and combine.
• Tape the box shut. A game box that pops open in transit scatters, and a scattered game is a lost game.
• Bag loose pieces before they go in.
• If the board is gone, or the box has gone soft with mildew, that one stays behind.

How Do I Pack Games for the Wet Season in Miami?

Put the games inside a sturdier carton or a strong bag, because game boxes are the flimsiest thing the network collects and thin cardboard does not survive a Miami summer. The donor packs, and the Local Pick-Up Partner does not bring boxes.

Humidity softens the corners over a season; a single afternoon storm ends them outright. So bag the games first if you can, keep the whole carton up off a bare concrete floor, and set it out the morning of your service day in a covered spot: the carport, the screened porch, or under a deep eave on a Coral Way bungalow. Not the night before. Never the night before.

Where the Games Go After a Miami Pickup

Local Pick-Up Partners sort everything at their own workspace after collection, then redistribute many items to readers, schools, libraries, nonprofits, and organizations that request materials through the Give ME Books program. After-school programs and senior centers ask for games constantly.

Some items are resold by the partner, which is how a free pickup service stays free. Anything that cannot be reused may eventually be recycled as a last resort. For a broader picture of how donation programs handle materials beyond books, the American Library Association's book donation programs guide is worth a read.

How to Schedule

Enter your ZIP code on the Give My Books Network site. If a Local Pick-Up Partner covers it, you can book a service day immediately; if no partner is there yet, your request enters the out-of-area pickup system, where a nearby partner may claim it.

Pickups happen between 8 AM and 8 PM, there is no cost, and you do not need to be home. Books, media, and games can all go out together. Most people find the games while packing the books anyway, usually behind the photo albums, usually with one corner crushed.