"Charity" Clothing Bins - CBC Report So, it looks like those clothing bins that are around may not be so charitable, after all. Not sure how bad it is here, but CBC reports that it's quite a lucrative business in Ottawa: Clothing donation bins spark turf war in Ontario - Ottawa - CBC News My old clothes usually go to the Salvation Army. I've seen bins around the city, but i never scrutinized who's they were. Spoiler! |
You'd be surprised at how many charities get very little of what's collected. I bring my donations directly to a store, usually the Salvation Army or SPCA. |
wow.... i knew some of these charities sell the clothing and use the money to help their organization but this issue in Ontario sounds unreal i normally give my clothing to the Developmental Disabilities Association and to the needy when im volunteering downtown |
I hope BC is not as bad ... I usually threw my used clothings in the bin at Richmond Superstore ... and I have seen it got overflow quite often ... also the bin in front of Yoham Centre as well, I walked by it one time bitching about how people just dropped their bags of clothing by the bin instead of in the bin, I picked it up, opened the drawer just to recognize the bin was completely full ... |
i can confirm bc has issues... i've seem hobos climb and flip over salvation army clothing bins, salvaging good items. And i'm pretty sure it's not to wear, but rather to sell for drug money. Every year the homeless get xmas gifts such as clothing donated to them and it's like xmas to them because they sell it and buy drugs. and this is in richmond too where we don't even have many hobos. I can't even imagine how bad the problem is elsewhere.. |
what the homeless do with the clothing is an entirely different issue though, but don't expect them to be able to pawn off old used clothing for drugs... they do try to trade/sell new, stolen, clothing though |
^true, at least u expect the homeless to do it, whereas a charitable company doing it is def a few notches up on the fucked up meter. I remember that awesome vancouver documentary on the homeless where that white dude lives like a hobo for some time. In that one i learned that during xmas they get clothing which they sell off for drug money - interviews with real hobos admitting it. That's what i referred to, i'm not sure how they actually sell it - perhaps the chain is: -i donate my shitty shirt from the 90's to a clothing bin -hobo jacks it -it ends up at a thrift store -a hipster pays $50 for it lol |
yeah its crazy. I saw the report on TV and was shocked that the drivers can get paid $4000 a week just picking the contents of the bins up. All my donations are going straight to the store now. |
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OT kinda: I recently moved and did multiple HUGE hauls of a lot of stuff, books, clothes, purses, toys, kitchen stuff, knick knacks, electronics etc to my local Value Village, straight to their door. Value Village - Good deeds. Good deals. Pretty much the hours that they are open, they're accepting donations and they were ALWAYS so friendly. |
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:seriously: Value Village is a for profit company. I would have donated all those goods to the Salvation Army instead. Even if the V.V donates to local non-profits, how much % is it realistically. Very little in the scheme of things. |
Big Brothers calls my house regularly to ask for used clothing to donate... but now i'm kinda skeptical about these calls... im never home to see who picks them up, might not even be BigBrothers for all i know |
I throw my clothes in donation bins all the time. In truth, I don't care what happens to them. Putting them in these bins just makes me feel good about myself rather than throwing them in the trash. Plus, I am way too lazy to even try selling my pants with holes in the ass crack. |
I did a project for the Developmental Disabilities Association once, trying to figure out how they could leverage their existing clothing-collection logistics chain into something like bottle collections. They have drivers on their payroll to go out and collect clothes. They hire people with developmental disabilities to do busywork (productive, but relatively boring/dull) so that these people can be gainfully employed. The clothing is brought in, sorted, dried, stored, and sold to Value Village and other companies of a similar ilk on a per-pound basis. They typically have to store clothes because VV will only accept a certain amount at a time, and the clothes have to be basically held on to 'til the time is done. So yes, technically the stuff given to DD does get sold and then resold, but it's the process that's charitable. Also, all revenue from the VV income goes to the charity's general revenue, so it all works out in the end. |
^the only gripe I have with the Developmental Disabilities Association (DDA) is that their office/managerial staff get paid way too much. I have no problem with their support staff (staff that take care of the adults with a developmental disability) who make about $25/h to start because their job is really difficult at times. I'm referring to people in their office/management that make $50/hour. Obviously, their wage comes out of the DDA earnings. But, overall the DDA is a pretty good organization in my opinon. I did work for them for a couple years. |
I stopped using these things when I realized that there is no info on where the items are going.. I assumed someone was probably just taking the donations and turning a profit. Since they aren't telling you anything, they aren't really lying... Turns out I was right. |
While I would like my old clothes I donate to go to a good cause, the reality is that once I drop them off I really don't care what happens to them. It's better than throwing them in the trash. |
I care if my donation actually goes to good use, than fill the pockets of a business owner who tells his employees to vandalism the competition... |
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First post on RS guys! Big Brothers and Salvation Army started off with great intentions, but over the years, the personelles working there found the so-called "loop-holes" and siphons out money into their own pockets. I was talking to a good buddy one time, he worked at Salvation Army not too long ago, and witnessed his supervisor on shift making false transations and forging papers. With that said, I am sure these big name corporations are still helping the needy, but it's just that there are vermins within their company that is hustlin' dirty money. My mother went in to Salvation Army for a donation during the month of December, but the manager at the store appeared to be really shady:badpokerface:. Mom ended up walking out of that store and went to another one instead. |
Honestly, I don't really care where my clothes go to. As long as I can get rid of it and it's put to use. |
Kid's clothes usually go to the closest school that needs donations/is having a flea market. Adult clothes go to shelters. The rest goes to Sally Ann. |
The best bet is to take it straight to the shelters and in kelowna, the gospel mission (one of the main shelters). Or Salvation Army. Big Brothers has a huge handle on used clothes in BC (kelowna anyway) but Im fairly certain they are just a money factory now too. I see them closing buildings and cutting back services, yet they have increased the collection to my building without any one calling to once every 3 weeks. They are pulling in a ton of stuff so the money is being made somwhere and not spent where it should. |
So...where should we take our old clothes if we want it to go to the needy rather than some guy profiting off it? |
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