Why Board Games and Puzzles Are Worth Donating

Most homes accumulate games. Family game nights drift in and out of fashion. Kids age out of certain titles. Puzzles get assembled once and put back on the shelf. Eventually a closet or hallway cabinet fills up, and nobody opens any of it.

That stuff has a real second life. Schools use board games for classroom activities and after-school programs. Senior centers run regular game days. Shelters and after-school programs use puzzles as a calm, no-screen activity. Hospital pediatric wings use kids' games. The demand is steady. The supply mostly sits in closets.

Give My Books Network handles the handoff. Pack the games into a box, schedule a free pickup, set the boxes outside, and your Local Pick-Up Partner collects them on a scheduled service day.

What We Pick Up in Peoria

Board games of all kinds, family-friendly and adult. Strategy games, party games, kids' games, classics, modern designer games. Card games, including standard decks and themed sets. Puzzles, jigsaw or otherwise. Brain teasers and logic puzzles. Mostly anything that comes in a box and would be played at a table.

The big ask is that games are complete or close to it. A puzzle missing one or two pieces? Disappointing but usable. A puzzle missing fifteen pieces? Probably not. A board game missing a few minor pieces is fine if the game is still playable. A game missing the rules or all of one player's pieces is harder to place.

Pack everything in the same boxes you are using for books and media. Your Local Pick-Up Partner handles all sorting after pickup.

Where Donated Games and Puzzles Go After a Peoria Pickup

Many items are redistributed through the Give ME Books program to schools, after-school tutoring programs, senior centers, shelters, hospitals, and other organizations that request them. Some may be resold by the partner to help sustain the free pickup service. Items that cannot be reused may eventually be recycled as a last resort.

The broader community context for these kinds of donations is described in part by national libraries and literacy organizations, which often run their own family game and puzzle nights. The American Library Association's Book Donation Programs guide covers the role of community game and puzzle donations in library and after-school programming.

Where Peoria Donations Tend to Come From

Empty-nester families clearing closets in West Peoria and Averyville. Families wrapping up a season at a the North Valley property. Schools clearing storage at the end of the year. Families downsizing from a larger home in Mount Hawley. Garage cleanouts where games have been stacked under boxes for a decade.

Whatever the reason, the model is the same. Pack, schedule, set out, done.