My neice, a single mom, uses the site all the time.... put me onto it too!

 http://www.freecycle.org/
 The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,142 groups with 3,978,000 members
 across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of
 people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's
 all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group
 is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is
 free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box
 above or by clicking on “Browse Groups” above the search box.

 There are locations (sections) in many countries