Places here asking for donations are saying: No clothing please

It IS sad...but some people take this as an opportunity to clean out their cupboards of food that has expired and clothing that needs to be in the rag box...they donate? it instead of throwing it out, then make sure everyone knows THEY "donated" to the cause!

I always use the "If I got this, would I be happy or feel like the poor unwanted person who gets given carp and is expected to be grateful?" test. If I wouldn't be happy to receive a donated item, I don't donate it.

Exactly. Someone once asked, is it right to donate clothing with rips or stains? Just because a person is poor doesn't mean they should look like a slob. And groups like Goodwill and Salvation army can't re-sell stuff that's no good. Organizations do not have staff to go thru donations, remove stains, sew on buttons or repair tears. Feeling good because you found a way to get rid of stuff no one wants is just not right. And expired food items? Ewww.

One of our local news stations just did a segment on junk donations and the high cost of disposal. So many people have the attitude of "well, it's ugly/ripped/missing buttons/stained/doesn't work/etc. etc. etc. but someone can fix it, so I'll just donate it and THEY can sort it out". This means that Goodwill and Savers and Salvation Army, etc. all have to spend thousands of dollars every year to dispose of huge dumpsters of garbage. I try to be better now and give it some thought before donating anything. Can it really be used again?

Now I know we are talking about the emergency occurring now and the fact that so many need good wearable clothing but..... the Goodwill and places like that sell the junk stuff that is fabric but not good enough to be sold to wear. They sell it in bulk. I don't know if it is to paper manufacturers or just who but I saw a big sorting of clothing going on and asked about it.

Ruthie is correct about textile waste. It does make money for charitable organizations like Goodwill.

As for disaster relief what is really needed are cash contributions to relief organizations. The Red Cross for example hands out vouchers to families and individuals when s they suffer losses due to fire,flood or other disaster.

My DD was in a horrible apartment fire some years back. Even though she had a place to s go (us) the Red Cross came through with vouchers for the basics of clothing and bedding along with assisting her in getting her medications promptly replaced etc.

I have to put in a good word for our local Walmart too. When she came in with her voucher and the manager found out about it he immediately made the decision to match it dollar for dollar.

Unless you have been there you cannot imagine how important the simple act of having a voucher to buy fresh underwear at the local Walmart can brighten one day.

Dirty underwear? omg. That's despicable.

When DD was little, I asked her to go through her things that she had outgrown to give to charity. She came up with all the junky ripped clothing that still fit her, but otherwise not really suitable to wear anymore. I asked her why she didn't want to wear these things anymore and she said because it was ripped and torn. So then I asked her if it wasn't good enough for her to wear, why would it be good enough for someone else, especially someone who had next to nothing and was probably embarrased that she didn't have any nice things at all.

It stunned her into silence. So now the old ripped stuff is put in bags marked "Rags" and we ask around if anyone (or any instituion) could use them, some of my quilting friends love the "free fabric". Gently used items, are washed and taken to whatever charity (or women's shelter) is in the most need at the time.

I am also a bit of a online shopaholic (lol) And a major bargain hunter (and darn good at it! :-). Sometimes the stuff (not always) I get online doesn't fit or isn't something we'd wear, instead of spending the postage and sending it back, we save it for charity.

On the weekend, Old Navy had an amazing deal on jeans and tops, with free shipping. Jeans for $1.47, up to $3.00. So I ordered quite a few things for myself and dd, hoping that they will all fit! But if not, it's going to charity, with the tags on. I know if they don't fit us they will fit someone else and it's brand new with the regular price being 20x the price I paid on sale. It would cost me more in postage and/or gas to send them back.

When Christmas rolls around and the clothing drives start, we usually have a nice pile of brand new clothing that we give, that was within our budget and didn't have to go out and buy things at full price. So it works out pretty good for us that way.

BJ

I know we used to buy rags from Goodwill. The main thing is that it's clean. Dirty stuff is unforgivable. A little tear or a small stain, I'm less concerned about. When someone doesn't have a coat in the winter, would they take one that has a hole in the pocket but otherwise serviceable? There's limits both ways IMO.

Some things that are often overlooked in disaster donations are things like soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc. How many times you get a free toothbrush with a toothpaste purchase. As long as it's sealed, I have no problem donating that to someone who would like to brush their teeth. Deodorant, shampoo and other personal care items are often wanted too. Sample sizes, things like that are often welcome. Combs, brushes and even drinking water.

I remember they used to have drop off containers around for Goodwill, Salvation Army and the like but people used them for dumpsters. Not just bad clothes, but yard waste, grass clippings, real garbage and more. That was sad that they had to stop them. But that's how people are.

Sometimes I hesitate to put things in the thrift shop bag because they are really not wearable, but I do it in the hope that these items are collected and sold as rags. Maybe I should label them as rags and save someone the time of looking at them.

I do throw away underwear, though. But I did have a household helper once who asked if she could have the men's underwear which she noticed in the trash can. Her family collects clothing and delivers it to the poor in Mexico once a year. I would never never, have offered her used underwear, but she asked.

The Chicago Tribune just ran an article on the many different doanation boxes you see on the streets. Many are FOR PROFIT organizations; they re-sell your donated clothes and keep the profit. Some claim to give a token amount to charities.

Check with the BBB before you assume you are being charitable by putting clothes in a bin.

The story did say that all fabric is welcomed by true charities. As has been posted here, items that are not saleable as clothing are sold for their 'rag content'.