After nearly a year spent sitting in a Dallas County storage facility as a judge decided their fate, about 350 boxes of seized coats, shorts and other items were donated to eight Dallas-area charities Wednesday.

“I’m so excited. Some criminals meant this for bad, but it’s being put to good use,” said Kim Leach, a Dallas County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman. “Take that, bad guys.”

The boxes, full of brand-new clothing, bedding and camping gear, were found abandoned on the roadside in a tractor trailer. Officials from the North Texas Auto Theft Task Force exhausted every lead to find the rightful owners of the merchandise, but the unclaimed items were finally awarded to the Dallas County Sheriff's Department.

“We thought, ‘What better way to give back to the Dallas County community than to donate them?’” Ms. Leach said.

Three trucks distributed items to charities in Dallas and Collin counties.

Criminals’ camping gear is now in the hands of Boy Scouts and clothing, blankets and coats were unloaded at organizations including Salvation Army, Collin County Child Advocacy Center and Goodwill.

The largest donation was unloaded by officers and three volunteer inmates from the Dallas County Jail at The Bridge, one of the city’s newest sites to assist the chronically homeless, in downtown Dallas.

Hayedeh Jahansouz, The Bridge’s operations director, said the facility was excited to receive such a large donation within a month of opening its doors.

“We rely on assistance from anybody,” she said. “Our clients have only the clothes on their backs.”

Dr. Rick Davis, the senior director for behavioral health at The Bridge, spoke with shelter residents about when donations would be distributed as news of the leather coats and fleece-lined jackets being carted into the storage room spread.