Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Summertime is a great time to clean out your closet and get rid of all of those clothes that you'll never wear again. Especially here in Vallarta, where the rainy season can leave the clothes in your closet somewhat musty and smelly.

This summer, Deja New, a consignment shop on Puerto Vallarta's South side, is making it easy to turn your old clothes into a helping hand for Banderas Bay area charities.

It's simple. If you haven't worn it in 6 months, you probably aren't ever going to, so just get your unwanted clothes together and take them to Deja New Consignment, located at Jacarandas #280 between Cardenas & Carranza on PV's Southside. (Please remember: clothing must be odor free, clean and in good condition.)

Deja New will then sell the clothes and donate the proceeds to a worthy cause in the greater Banderas Bay area.

At this time, Deja New has set up the following charity accounts to choose from:

• SPCA de PV
• PURR Project
• Banderas Bay Shelter
• IFC Cleft Palate Program
• Pasitos de Luz
• Playas Gemelas Scholarship Program
• Worship in Paradise (Compassionate Impact)
• Boutique Theater
• Harkness Instituto (a small school raising money to send gifted students to study in US for the summer)

Or, you can open up an account for any charity that is near and dear to your heart! An example of how well this works; one of these groups opened an account in April 2012 and has raised over $5300 pesos to date.

If you are North of the border, start thinking about what you no longer wear and want to bring back with you to donate to one of the many worthy causes here in Puerto Vallarta. This is a great way to support your favorite non-profit organization, without much effort.

According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Americans each discard an average of 68 pounds of clothes every year. By bringing your unwanted clothing to Deja New you can put some of that to good use, so donate today!

And while you are packing, keep this in mind:

Paying the airlines $20 USD for an extra suitcase can raise well over $1000 pesos for a local charity. Also, don't forget to pick up school supplies while they are on sale at places like Target and Walmart. A box of crayons is often sold in the US for 10 or 20 cents, while here they cost $40 pesos apiece. So, a $20 suitcase fee and $20 dollars worth of school supplies at 10 or 20 cents per item is worth about $5000 to $10,000 pesos in Vallarta.