posted on January 11, 2008 04:30:32 PM new
I get phone calls from various organisations asking for used clothes,toys,shoes,appliances and please leave them at your door on such a such day next week?
How can they expect folks to keep coming up with more clothes,shoes,appliances and toys?
I thought clothes are so cheap,they can practically buy new ones in bulk,who is wearing other people's old clothes and shoes anyway?and used appliances,they dont work and what good are they?
Or is it just to keep the caller gainfully employed/
Advice and insight please!
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Lets all stop whining !
posted on January 11, 2008 09:38:26 PM new
I think that is a legit request from a charity, although it's too bad you're getting a lot of those kinds of calls.
We have two thrift shops in our mountain town, and they *give* clothes to needy people, who are in every area of this country. If you're truly poor, even $1 on used clothing at a thrift shop might be too much to spend.
There are some who like to fix old appliances. Some, like us, like to buy broken mechanical items like clocks so our grandsons can take them apart and learn about them.
The toy section of our biggest thrift shop routinely runs out of toys. People visit in town and the kids get bored; poor people need toys and games for their kids.
Edited to add: In the 90s when we were taking student groups to Lithuania to help reestablish their universities destroyed by the Soviets, we brought not only boxes of textbooks (English) and computers. We also brought large cartons packed with used clothing. Our friends over there wept to get the clothing.
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[ edited by roadsmith on Jan 11, 2008 09:39 PM ]
None of the thrift stores in our area give the collected clothing or other items directly to the poor. Generally less than 25% of thrift store sales are donated to charity.
posted on January 12, 2008 07:10:45 AM new
Thanks for your replies,I have seen merchandise in thrift stores more expensive than the new ones in dept stores,esp Tv sets.
I do get many magazines,I wonder if they will take them?
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Lets all stop whining !
posted on January 12, 2008 09:27:16 AM new
I have tons of stuff to get rid of and regularly drop off stuff at the Salvation Army drop-off center, although I don't think they accept appliances. I've never had the illusion that my clothes were given to poor people. They are sold in thrift shops, often to eBay sellers. The stuff that isn't fit to sell is sold to recyclers,textile recyclers, scrap metal recyclers, etc. The alternative is to take everything to the dump, and pay for the privledge to fill up the land fill.
posted on January 12, 2008 03:22:06 PM new
This month's National Geographic illustrates how the world recycles these electronic goods-the Africans have to burn off the plastic insulators before the scrap dealers would buy the copper ;the Indian children open the mouse and remove whatever is saleable,a Chinese farmer gathered his sweet potato ready for the market next to a big pile of electronic components littered around his potato field.
We may think we are safe,sending them to faraway places ,well they will soon come back to us as FOOD!
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Lets all stop whining !
posted on January 12, 2008 03:48:07 PM new "We may think we are safe,sending them to faraway places ,well they will soon come back to us as FOOD!"
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Gives the acronym GIGO a new meaning.
