When I was growing up we used to shop at Salvation Army all the time. Occasionally we used to stop by the Saint Vincent De Pauls. These are both local thrift stores. Salvation Army had a large store full of stuff. Usually things that fell out of fasion years ago but when you don't have much money you get what you can, where you can. It was always dusty and dirty and kind of moldy smelling but the people at the front counter were always friendly if seemingly rather tired and always busy. The place was always stuffed to the walls and people always told me it was a good idea to shop there because the proceeds go to help those less fortunate. We always donated our little worn clothing that no longer fit to them.
We didn't do to much shopping at Saint Vincents. Their store was smaller and occasionally you would find a good deal but mostly it wasn't that great. I don't remember donating to them.
About 10 years ago I did some volunteer work and it has changed the choices I make. I spent a couple days at the Salvation Army. It was boring and eye opening. They had stuff in back stock waiting to go out on the floor, not much of it. But they were getting trash bags full of new and nice clothing every day. What did they have me do with it? Throw it in the big dumpster. Not even look at it, just throw it away. I was told "we have enough stuff right now so just throw away whatever we get in" That's what I did for a couple days. Just throw away item after item of usable clothing, shoes, bedding, everything. I was mortified. I was also bored because unless someone was dropping something off, that just got thrown away, I had nothing to do. They didn't give me anything to do but sit in the back room and occasionally throw things away.
After a few days of that I went to help out at Saint Vincent De Pauls. What a difference. Did you know that lost and found from the airport that never gets picked up, gets dropped off there? So do a number of other local organizations. Drop off stuff there I mean. Yet there store is not very big. So what happens to all that stuff? The nice lady showing me around showed me this room. It was filled with boxes. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Each box was neatly packed and labeled. Then a couple times a year a container from one of the shipping places stops by and fills it up. They ship it off to rural villages, 3rd world countries and people in need around the globe. The only things thrown away were unsalvagable things. Things with huge rips and stains.
I ended up volunteering there for a while past the hours I needed. They were always busy and always in need of help sorting, cleaning and boxing things. I don't know how other places run their businesses. But last night I was reading an article in SELF magazine that talked about different cancer charities and research institutes and where the money actually goes. It's always good to know what happens to the stuff and/or money that you donate. Do your research before donating. It doesn't help your cause if you're donating to a place that uses the money for personal gains like salaries and bonuses.
Its like how I found out that the local PetCo solicits monetary donations for our local shelter The Gastineau Humane Society. Yet less then 15% of what they collect actually goes to the shelter. Yet our local shelter which depends on donations in order to provide things like food and medical needs for the homeless animals of Juneau shows an 50-80% drop in donations since PetCo opened. But thats a topic for a different blog.
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