Does Catholic Charities In-Kind Donation Center accept book donations in Albuquerque?

Books are not on the explicit need list at the Catholic Charities In-Kind Donation Center at 2300 Candelaria Rd NE. The center collects items needed to furnish apartments for refugee families and individuals/families exiting homelessness — furniture, household goods, beds, mattresses, lamps, brooms, mops, pots and pans, cleaning supplies, personal care supplies, and non-perishable food. Books aren't a furnishing essential, so they're not part of the published need list. Call (505) 724-4670 if you want to confirm current policy before driving over. For used books specifically, NMLP free pickup is the simpler route in the Albuquerque metro.

How does Catholic Charities In-Kind work?

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe (ccasfnm.org) operates the In-Kind Donation Center as part of its broader Albuquerque-area refugee resettlement and homelessness response work. When refugee families arrive in Albuquerque (the Archdiocese has been a long-standing refugee resettlement partner) or when Catholic Charities case managers move a homeless family into a transitional or permanent apartment, the family needs a furnished space — furniture, kitchenware, cleaning supplies, basic personal-care items. Rather than purchasing everything new, Catholic Charities runs the In-Kind Donation Center to receive community-donated furnishings and route them to the families being housed. The model means a donated couch goes from your living room to a real Albuquerque family who just got their first apartment in months or years.

Is Catholic Charities tax-deductible?

Yes. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is a 501(c)(3) public charity. In-kind donations receive a tax-deductible receipt at intake. For non-cash gifts totaling more than $500 in a year, IRS Form 8283 is required and items must be in 'good used condition or better.'

Where do used books in Albuquerque actually go?

NMLP free pickup is the route most donors actually want. Any quantity, any condition, in-home pickup, no fee. Books in good condition route to APS Title I schools requesting specific grade-level material, to the metro's network of Little Free Libraries on the active restocking route, to family shelters with children's programs, and to organizations serving newly-arrived refugee families (which is a tangentially relevant fit — many Albuquerque-area refugee-resettled families do use the kids' books NMLP routes). For a tax-deductible alternative, the Friends of the Albuquerque Public Library at 501 Copper Ave NW is a 501(c)(3) that accepts used-book donations.

What's the difference between Catholic Charities In-Kind and NMLP?

Different missions and different inventory categories. Catholic Charities In-Kind is a 501(c)(3) apartment-furnishing program — donated furniture/household/cookware/cleaning items get matched to refugee and exiting-homelessness families to make empty apartments livable. NMLP is a for-profit books-and-media specialty operation — used books, DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, vinyl records get picked up, hand-sorted at the warehouse, and either sold to fund the operation or routed to local distribution channels (APS Title I, Little Free Libraries, family shelters, refugee resettlement). Donors with a mixed donation including books AND furnishings (typical estate cleanout, downsizing move, etc.) can support both: furnishings to Catholic Charities In-Kind for the refugee/homelessness furnishing mission, books to NMLP for the books-only specialty handling.

Clarification • Catholic Charities In-Kind Focuses on Apartment Furnishings, Not Books

Catholic Charities In-Kind Donation Center vs NMLP

Q: What does the Catholic Charities In-Kind Donation Center actually need?

The published need list (current as of 2026) includes: pots, pans, lamps, brooms, mops, beds, mattresses, non-perishable food, furniture, household goods, cleaning supplies, and personal care supplies. The unifying logic is 'what does a family need to walk into an empty apartment and start living there immediately?' — that's the framing the program uses. Items that show up frequently on the need list because they're hardest to keep in stock: twin and full mattresses, cookware sets, lamps, basic cleaning supplies. Walk-in donation hours are Monday through Friday 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM.

Quick honest answer: Catholic Charities In-Kind Donation Center at 2300 Candelaria Rd NE collects what's needed to furnish apartments for refugee families and people exiting homelessness — furniture, household goods, beds, mattresses, lamps, kitchenware, cleaning supplies, non-perishable food. Books aren't on their explicit need list. If you have used books to give in the Albuquerque metro, NMLP picks them up free and routes them to APS Title I + Little Free Libraries + family shelters + refugee resettlement. If you have furnishings, Catholic Charities In-Kind is where they belong.

Call or Text NMLP: 702-496-4214 Schedule a Free NMLP Pickup

Catholic Charities In-Kind Donation Center — what it is and what it needs

The In-Kind Donation Center at 2300 Candelaria Rd NE, Albuquerque NM 87107 is operated by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe (ccasfnm.org), one of the longest-running social-services organizations in northern New Mexico. Walk-in donation hours are Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM, and the phone is (505) 724-4670.

The mission is concrete and specific: collect community-donated items needed to furnish apartments for refugee families arriving in Albuquerque (the Archdiocese has been a long-standing refugee resettlement partner) and for individuals/families exiting homelessness through Catholic Charities case management. Rather than purchasing everything new for each apartment placement, Catholic Charities maintains the In-Kind Donation Center as a community-donation channel that lets ordinary Albuquerque households contribute the household goods a family needs to walk into an empty space and start living there.

The published need list (current as of 2026): pots, pans, lamps, brooms, mops, beds, mattresses (especially twin and full), non-perishable food, furniture, household goods, cleaning supplies, and personal care supplies. The unifying logic of the list is "what does a family need to walk into an empty apartment and start living there immediately?" — that's the framing the program uses for decisions about what to accept and what to prioritize.

What Catholic Charities In-Kind doesn't include on the published need list: books. Books aren't an apartment-furnishing essential; a refugee family or a family exiting homelessness needs the bed, the cookware, the lamps, the basic cleaning supplies before they need a bookshelf full of reading material. That's the operational reality of the program model. Donors who want to give books to support Albuquerque's refugee and homelessness response should route through a different channel.

If you do have an apartment-furnishing donation — a couch, a kitchen table set, a mattress in good condition, a working microwave, a complete cookware set, a coat tree — Catholic Charities In-Kind is one of the highest-impact destinations in town for that kind of donation. Each item that walks in the door at 2300 Candelaria has a real family on the other end who needs it to start a household.

Where used books in Albuquerque actually go (including for refugee families)

If you came here because you have used books and were wondering whether Catholic Charities might take them, the honest answer is that books aren't part of their In-Kind program. But the books still have real options in town — and several of them tangentially serve the same Albuquerque refugee-resettlement work that Catholic Charities does.

NMLP free pickup. Any quantity, any condition, in-home pickup, no fee. Useful children's books in good condition route to APS Title I schools, the metro's Little Free Library restock route, family shelters with on-site kids' programs, and — relevant to your interest if you came here looking for Catholic Charities — to organizations serving newly-arrived refugee families. Unsalvageable copies go to paper recycling. Call or text 702-496-4214.
Friends of the Albuquerque Public Library. 501(c)(3) at 501 Copper Ave NW, lower-level Main Library, Mon-Sat 10:30 AM-2:00 PM. Tax-deductible, accepts books in current readable condition.
A nonprofit donation that funds Catholic Charities directly. If you sell your used books elsewhere (Half Price Books has no NM stores, but local channels and online resale exist) and donate the proceeds in cash to Catholic Charities, you've converted the book inventory into the apartment-furnishings the program actually needs.

The tangential connection worth naming: NMLP routes some of the useful children's books from its hand-sort process to organizations serving Albuquerque-area refugee-resettled families. So a stack of bilingual picture books donated to NMLP can end up with a refugee family in the same Catholic Charities network — just through a different supply chain than the apartment-furnishing channel.

If you want to support Catholic Charities In-Kind directly

1. Apartment-furnishing donations

Twin and full mattresses, beds, dressers, kitchen tables and chairs, couches in clean condition, lamps, working microwaves, complete cookware sets, basic dishes/glasses/silverware sets. Drop off at 2300 Candelaria Rd NE Mon-Fri 7:00 AM-3:30 PM.

2. Cleaning supplies and personal-care items

Detergent, soap, paper towels, toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste — the start-up supplies a household needs that are often hard to fund out of an emergency-aid budget.

3. Cash donations

Funds case management, refugee resettlement coordination, the operational backbone that makes the apartment-furnishing supply chain work. Tax-deductible 501(c)(3) receipt. Catholic Charities accepts cash gifts through ccasfnm.org.

4. Volunteer

Volunteer opportunities at the In-Kind Donation Center and across Catholic Charities programs are coordinated through their volunteer staff. Call (505) 724-4670 or visit ccasfnm.org.

Why this page exists (disclosure)

I'm Josh Eldred — I run NMLP. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is one of the most serious and long-standing social-services operations in northern New Mexico and the In-Kind Donation Center is a critical piece of the apartment-furnishing supply chain for refugee families and people exiting homelessness in Albuquerque. ABQ donors searching "Catholic Charities donations Albuquerque" or "Catholic Charities book donation" deserve a clear answer (furnishings yes, books no) rather than wasting a trip. I'd rather you support Catholic Charities with the furnishings they actually need than confuse the supply chain with books they can't use for the program's specific mission.

More ABQ donation channel guides

Furnishings to Catholic Charities. Books to NMLP.

Two separate supply chains, both serving Albuquerque-area refugee families and people exiting homelessness. NMLP picks up books free anywhere in the metro and routes useful kids' books to APS Title I, LFLs, family shelters, and refugee-resettlement organizations. Catholic Charities takes the furnishings and turns empty apartments into homes.

Call or Text 702-496-4214

Josh Eldred — NMLP — Free book pickup across the Albuquerque metro.