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Photo by Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Donated Barbie dolls sit in a bucket at the Roanoke Rescue Mission Thrift Store dock as locals unload goods to be donated. Many are making donations at the last minute to take advantage of the tax write-off.

Thinking about donating?

People may donate to the Salvation Army Thrift Store at 5511 Williamson Road in Roanoke County on Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The store is closed Sunday.

They may also give between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday to the Roanoke Rescue Mission thrift store at 421 Fourth St. S.E.

Goodwill Industries of the Valleys offers a valuation guide to help donors estimate the value of certain items. That guide, a list of donation centers and other information about donating can be found at Goodwill's website: www.goodwillvalleys.com.

Stewart Barnes and his son Ryland unloaded a minivan stocked with used clothes and toys on Saturday outside the Roanoke Rescue Mission's thrift store.

It might seem like a lot of work to watch 10-year-old Ryland stumble beneath the weight of plastic bags so full they spilled an article or two of clothing in the parking lot.

But his father notes there are benefits to the exercise: The family gets to clean out the basement while giving to a good cause -- without the hassle of a yard sale.

Then there's the added perk: "It's also nice getting the tax reduction," said the elder Barnes.

People all over the Roanoke Valley are scrambling to make donations in time for year-end tax deductions, flooding area thrift stores with everything from secondhand clothes to hundred-year-old furniture to a used motor home.

Charlotte Anders, manager of the Rescue Mission's thrift store, is bracing for the last day of the year. On Monday she expects to receive 60 percent more items than she would on an average day. As of early Saturday afternoon, 18 people had arranged to have items picked up from their homes on Monday.

"Monday," Anders said, "is going to be swamped."

Business was brisk already. Tom Blue dropped off loads of clothes and other items, including a china set. He accepted a receipt and estimated the total value in the hundreds of dollars.

Not everyone was seeking tax deductions. Anders said that one woman dropped off a crock pot she had gotten for Christmas.

"It wasn't that she didn't like the gift," she said. "She just didn't care for the person who gave it to her. We see that a lot."

Donated items are sold in the thrift store, and proceeds go to the Rescue Mission's various programs, Anders said. Donated cars and other vehicles are kept by the thrift store, given to its employees or sometimes sold at auction.

Shoppers appreciate the donations, too. Brenda Love pushed a purple-and-gold shopping cart around the store while two of her grandchildren played with miniature stuffed animals. Love buys clothes at the store for her grandchildren.

"My grandkids, they dress top notch -- all the brand names, and it doesn't break grandma," Love said. "It's a big help."

Other local thrift stores were seeing a rush of donations.

Brian Anderson, assistant manager at the YMCA Thrift Shop in Blacksburg, estimated that the store had seen about 100 donors as of shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, compared with 50 or 60 on a regular Saturday. The store is closed today and Monday.

Brenda Wright, manager of the Salvation Army Thrift Store on Williamson Road in Roanoke County, said she had been "so busy" on Saturday afternoon.

"Donations start getting heavy in November," Wright said. "It gets a little heavier in December, and then it gets really heavy after Christmas."

And then there is Monday. "The last day," Wright said, "is pretty wild."

Staff writer Amanda Codispoti contributed to this story.