Can You Donate Board Games and Puzzles in San Francisco?

Yes. Give My Books Network collects board games, card games, jigsaw puzzles, and video games free from any San Francisco address a Local Pick-Up Partner serves, in the same boxes as your books.

Games rarely get a mention on a donation page, which is odd, because the cupboard above the coats in every San Francisco flat is full of them. Small flats, no yards, limited closets. Something has to move.

Do Puzzles Need All Their Pieces?

Ideally, yes, and honesty helps more than optimism here. A 1,000-piece puzzle missing four pieces will disappoint whoever opens it at hour six, so tape a note on the box if you know pieces have gone missing.

If you genuinely do not know, say so on the note. A puzzle marked "pieces uncounted" is easy to place with someone who does not mind the gamble. An unmarked one that turns out to be incomplete is a small betrayal on a rainy afternoon.

How Does a Board Game Pickup Work in San Francisco?

Pack the games, book a service day by ZIP code, and set the box out by 8 AM. A Local Pick-Up Partner collects it between 8 AM and 8 PM, and you do not need to be home.

1. Tape each game box shut so the pieces stay put. A rubber band around the lid works too.
2. Pack games flat, heaviest at the bottom, into a box or tote. The donor packs; your partner does not bring boxes.
3. Add books, DVDs, records, and puzzles to the same load. No sorting required.
4. Leave everything at street level by 8 AM: the tuck-under garage, the vestibule, or under cover at the top of the steps.

What Games Does Give My Books Network Accept?

Give My Books Network accepts board games, card games, jigsaw puzzles, children's games, strategy games, and video games, along with books, textbooks, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, vinyl records, and audiobooks.

• Family board games, complete or clearly labelled if not
• Jigsaw puzzles of every size
• Card games and travel games
• Children's games with worn corners but intact pieces
• Video games and their cases

What cannot be passed forward is a game box that has grown mold or gone soft with water. A damp West Portal garage does that over a few winters, and a soft box will not survive being handled.

Where Should Games Wait on a Foggy Morning?

Somewhere dry and covered at street level. Fog and the marine layer keep the Sunset damp for weeks at a time, and a game box left on an open step absorbs that damp straight through the cardboard.

The tuck-under garage is the ideal spot. Failing that, the entry vestibule, or the top of the front steps with a bag over the box. Between November and March, cover the cardboard properly, because a winter storm arrives all at once and a soaked game box is finished.

Who Plays These Games Next in San Francisco?

Community centers, after-school programs, senior centers, shelters, and family programs that ask for games through the Give ME Books program. Local Pick-Up Partners fill those requests from what they collect and sort offsite.

Some games are resold by the partner, which is what pays for the free collection, and anything beyond use may eventually be recycled as a last resort. The American Library Association's book donation programs guide makes the same point about matching donations to stated needs, which is why partners sort rather than send everything to one address.

What Does It Cost to Donate Games in San Francisco?

Nothing. Give My Books Network charges no collection fee, no per-box charge, and no minimum for board games and puzzles anywhere in San Francisco.

Think of it as the useful outcome of a fogged-in weekend. Nobody made it to Ocean Beach, the cupboard finally got sorted, and four games your family finished with are now waiting by the door for someone else to open. Pack, set out, schedule, done.