More than 1,000 charities have joined The Giving Effect in seeking your unwanted gifts, and donors use The Giving Effect to connect with charities that need pretty much anything you can spare, from clothes, food, books and shoes, to cleaning supplies, cars, fencing and lumber. We at The Giving Effect are working to create a greater awareness of people in need, which is especially urgent during the holidays. Each donation on our site becomes a living story that can be shared on Facebook or Twitter to spread the holiday spirit, encouraging friends to follow your lead.?Organizations registered on The Giving Effect include The American Cancer Society Discovery Shop, in Napa, Calif., the Baltimore Theatre Project in Maryland and Pibbles & More Animal Rescue in Queens, N.Y. Donating is easy — browse the site by needs, location and categories to find causes you’d like to connect with. Then, complete a simple form to arrange a pickup, drop off or shipment. Tax receipts are issued via e-mail when the items are received. — The Giving Effect (www. thegivingeffect.com) uses social media to help donors discover and connect with organizations that need items such as clothes, shoes and food. It’s the first website to create stories around each in-kind donation that can be shared online to inspire others to give. The goal is to create a national movement to get food, gently-used items and more to people in need.