It's not always easy to give good things away. A 100 year-old friend in Philadelphia recently moved to small quarters in an assisted living facility. He had more furniture than he could now use. He called four charities-none would pick up his furniture. He was resigned to trashing it.

Instead, I contacted Neil Benson, an artist and recycler who is a member of Philadelphia's Dumpster Divers (we throw out ideas). Neil was happy to pick up the furniture and find a new home for it.

Then, there's Bobby Williams, whose business is trash collection. He's made recycling a part of his business ethic. As a child Bobby Williams helped out at Williams Waste World, his father's trash collection business. He often helped his father salvage goods and take them to people who could use them. Bobby realized how much of what people threw out was usable--or could be with some minor repairs.

Bobby always saw possibilities in trash. As a teenager, Bobby impressed his friends when he rescued a pool table, replaced the legs and found a new top for it. "I haven't stopped fixing thing since then," he said.

Bobby Williams on the job

Now he manages the family trash collection business in Ft. Washington, Maryland. Mindful of the enormous quantity of usable items he collects, Bobby has organized a major rescue and recycle effort. He rescues usable items before they reach the dump and recycles them to people who can use them. Bobby gives all of his employees a list of items he's looking for. If they see something on the list, they bag it, so it isn't tossed in the dump.

Rescued gifts for a child development center

The drivers bring full plastic bags, bicycles, small appliances and furniture to Williams' garage where he repairs them. His wife, Subingah, removes spots on upholstery and sprays disinfectant on toys. When the garage is full, they pile the repaired items into a truck and donate the items to neighborhood centers. Since January 2001 Williams has distributed 3/4 ton of cast-offs to five distribution centers.

But not all of us know a Neil Benson or Bobby Williams. For the rest of us, there are a growing number of entities that will help find homes for castoffs. Here are some resources we've located:

• Contact the recycling or human services department of your county government for referrals (sometimes they have pre-printed lists).
• See if your local newspaper has a column helping givers and users get together such as "Pass It On", a weekly column in the Dallas Morning News' House and Garden section. Bob Levey, who writes about local issues in a daily column for The Washington Post, offers a givaway "matchmaking" service called "Levey's List.' Anyone who wants to donate a large item, or anyone who needs one, may call a special number (202.334.7662). Their names are placed on a list which is distributed to all other participants who then contact one another.
• Check to see if there is a local Internet message board where people share information about deserving recipients who can use donations of appliances, technology, vehicles, etc. to help them get by. There is one in Washington, D.C. (http://www.his.com/pshapiro/deservingrecipients)
• The Clothing Recycling Company is a unique resource in the Washington, DC-Virginia-Maryland area. It places large cardboard collection boxes in apartment building and informs the residents that they will collect their old clothes. It empties the boxes twice a week. Then employees sort the clothing: 20 percent is thrown out, 60 percent is distributed free to several local charities and the remaining 20 percent is sold at their retail store.
• Part of its profits go to its sponsor--Unity Health Care--a not-for-profit medical center helping the uninsured and homeless in Washington, DC. Maybe there is something like this in your neighborhood. For further information contact Maureen Donovan, 703.204.1040.
• Donate art supplies, potential theater props and old costumes to schools or cultural organizations for creative projects.
• Give extra pet food, toys, beds and leashes to an animal shelter.
• Upgrading your mobile phone? Instead of throwing out your usable older model, contact Wireless at Work (http://bam.com/violence.htm), Bell Atlantic Mobile's community service program. It will reprogram the used phone to only dial 911, then donate the phones to social service agencies that distribute the phones to neighborhood watch groups.
• ExcessAccess.com uses the Internet to match surplus business and household goods with wish lists from nonprofit organizations. (http://www.excessaccess.com). Started in 1998, ExcessAccess works with groups throughout the country but is most active in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami and Houston.
• All postings are screened in-house and subscribers are alerted to matches via e-mail. There is a flat six-month subscription charge for this service ($10-$30) to help cover administrative costs. Donors receive a receipt for tax deduct able contributions. To date ExcessAccess has filled requests for 10,000 recipient groups.
• ReDo (Reuse Development Organization) helps businesses distribute surplus materials efficiently (http://www.redo.org). All donations go to nonprofits. Their model programs illustrate how well reuse programs can work on a large scale:
  137 million tons of surplus food redistributed by the state of Maryland in 1998; A program in Rochester, N.Y. recovered over 4,000 pounds of medical supplies and used (but working) medical equipment per week and distributed it at low cost to medical facilities for people and animals (http://www.redo.org/spotlight/). It also provides technical assistance to help start local reuse centers such as the ones mentioned.
• To donate electronics (especially computers), check these web-based resources for information:
  www.sharetechnology.org
  www.eiae.org
  www.pcsforschools.org
  

Now that the low-carbohydrate diet phase seems to have run its course, people are eating bread again. French bread, pita, rustic Italian loaves and American artisan breads are everywhere and too tempting to pass up. But unless you have a family of bread-a-holics, that impulse bread purchase probably will be stale bread by tomorrow.

On the other hand, dried-out bread has its uses:

Pulse day-old bread in a food processor for great "fresh" bread crumbs to crust a chicken breast; Age the bread several days more and get dried bread crumbs that you can bag and freeze for future use; For croutons, cut into chunks, season with salt, pepper and dried herbs, and lightly drizzle with olive oil before baking at 375 degrees until lightly browned; combine with a delicious custard for a bread pudding.

Below is a basic Bread Pudding that can be doctored with a little imagination. Substitute the vanilla falvoring with a flavored liquor such as Grand Marnier or bourbon for a special twist. You also can omit the sugar and vanilla and add 2 tbs. fresh herbs (chives, oregano, tyme, parsley) and up to 1/2 cup of leftover vegetables (onions, peppers, mushrooms and squash are great) and a 1/4 cup of cheese for a savory bread pudding.

Bread Pudding

• 1 -1/2 cups milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 3 cups day-old bread, crusty French breads work well
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 cup Raisins
• 1/4 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds)

1. Combine milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Whisk to combine thoroughly.
2. Butter an 8- or 9-inch cake pan or line pan with aluminum foil and then butter. This also can be prepared in any ovenproof pan or mold, including small ramekins for individual servings.
3. Cut bread into 1-inch chunks using a serrated knife. If bread is very hard and crusty, add to custard mix and allow moisture to soften bread.
4. Place a layer of bread in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with nuts and raisins and then drizzle with custard. Repeat process until pan is full.
5. Cover with foil and bake in a preheated 325-degree oven until almost set. The cooking time will depend upon the thickness of the pudding, but it should take about 35 minutes and the pudding should jiggle slightly when shaken.
6. Remove aluminum foil and return to oven, allowing pudding to "crust" over and lightly brown. Alternatively, brown it under the broiler of your oven for 1-2 minutes.
7. Serve warm with your favorite ice cream.

Christopher Green is a Washington-based food writer, professional chef and cooking instructor. Contact us if you have any questions for him.