You do have to be careful which places you give your ripped and torn stuff to. When I did my behind the scenes tours of my local thrift stores, they would either burn or throw away the unsellable clothes.
Those things need to go to a charity that DOES handle such fabric on a world-wide level. Goodwill has the infrastructure, for example. I would image Savers/Value Village (which is the Big Brother Sister charity) has it. Salvation Army has it. I hope they use that infrastructure. I know they do get money for it - something like a dollar a bale, or something.
My local thrift does put some things in bags to sell as rags, which I appreciate, and they also place old blankets in a bin for dog charities to come and take.
