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Post by smalltowngirlie on Jan 13, 2015 20:51:51 GMT
Please give me your opinion - I just went through a bunch of DS clothes from when he was a toddler. Most are in very good shape, the ones that were not are going in the garbage. I put them in a bag to toss into one of those donations boxes you see around town. However, our church does a monthly food shelf and it is this weekend. I was thinking of bring the clothes in there, laying them out for people to go through. I could givw each parent with kids in that size range a plastic grocery bag and let them choose a few items. I have a couple coats that I know I am taking to church.
Here is why I am wondering what to do. It is so much easier to just toss them in a donation box and I am done, but I always wonder where the clothes go, do they actually get used etc. I just remember being in a thrift store and seeing this room FULL of clothes. I mean full, floor to ceiling of clothes in a giant pile. My thought was they will never get through all these clothes because it comes in so much faster than it goes out.
At church I know the people that get the clothes will use them, at least I feel pretty comfortable that they will use them. We do a lot extra for our food shelf already, providing a small meal each month for example, so I don't want them to think this is something we will be doing on a regular basis. Last month we cleaned out some storage space and let parents pick out a toy for their child for Christmas. So this would be something special for parents again. Also, it is only boy clothes.
Both choices are good and will benefit someone, I am just not sure which way to go. My heart is really telling me to bring them to church, but my head says make it easy on yourself and just toss them in a box.
So please give me your opinions, as I said, no wrong choice here.
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Post by sillyrabbit on Jan 13, 2015 20:54:25 GMT
Since the church monthly food shelf is this upcoming weekend, I would take them there. Then, whatever was left I would take to the donation box. You are a very kind-hearted person.
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Post by Zee on Jan 13, 2015 20:54:31 GMT
Take them to church, as your heart says, and then donate anything left over.
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lindas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,158 
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Post by lindas on Jan 13, 2015 20:56:26 GMT
Short answer, take them to the church. I would rather know someone who can really use the item is getting it and really, it's not that much harder to take them as opposed to tossing them in a donation box.
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Post by cmpeter on Jan 13, 2015 20:58:37 GMT
In my area those donation boxes are placed by for profit organizations, not by a charity. Read the info on the ones in your area if that's important to you.
I take my stuff to my local Value Village or pass it onto friends who have kids the appropriate size.
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quiltz
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,707
Location: CANADA
Jun 29, 2014 16:13:28 GMT
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Post by quiltz on Jan 13, 2015 21:31:45 GMT
When I have travelled to Cuba and DR, I have seen their "clothes stores" and they are basically the stuff that Value Village and other charities cannot or do-not want to sell in Canada (not sure about the USA).
Please, don't throw out clothes. It is fabric. There are many places that will use the fabric as part of making a tied blanket. They send some of the clothes to orphans in African countries.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - especially with clothes.
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Post by Megan on Jan 13, 2015 21:50:40 GMT
Especially since it's this weekend, I'd go ahead and take it to church. Anything left over can be donated Monday.  |
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Post by epeanymous on Jan 13, 2015 22:22:11 GMT
If it were not this weekend, I would say just donate immediately, but in your case, sure, take them to your church event. Honestly when I am getting rid of things I do not want, however, unless I have a specific person who I know needs something, I do not think about where the thing is going and just send it out so that I don't lose momentum. I learned my lesson about holding onto things for people not that long ago too when I had a friend who wanted my crib that I was getting rid of, and, after I agree to give it to her, told me she wouldn't be picking it up until the baby she was seven months pregnant with was six months old  . |
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Post by myboysnme on Jan 13, 2015 22:31:01 GMT
The only thing that bothers me about your church plan is the part where you give the parents a bag and let them choose a few things. Do you actually stand there and hand out the clothes you bring?
I think if the clothes are on a table and someone can use them, I would feel no desire or compunction to stand there and supervise them choosing a few items. Suppose someone with a little boy gets a few items from you and no one else with that size comes by? Now you have a table full of clothes you could have given to the first person.
I'm thinking either give them to the church and step away or put them in a drop off site. I don't get why you would be there overseeing the distribution of your clothes.
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raindancer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,095
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Post by raindancer on Jan 13, 2015 22:35:28 GMT
When I have travelled to Cuba and DR, I have seen their "clothes stores" and they are basically the stuff that Value Village and other charities cannot or do-not want to sell in Canada (not sure about the USA).
Please, don't throw out clothes. It is fabric. There are many places that will use the fabric as part of making a tied blanket. They send some of the clothes to orphans in African countries.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - especially with clothes.
Take it to your church. The post above is what people widely believe to be truth, there is actually a very real underlying problem with this process. Here is a link and a quote to just one example. Numerous articles have been written about this topic. I would implore everyone to be more careful with initial purchases they make, buying what you need, mixing and matching so you overall have fewer clothes that are longer lasting. It's a global problem, and western countries are so much a part of the problem. What really happens to your used clothes |
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Post by jenjie on Jan 13, 2015 23:21:58 GMT
Take it to your church. Lay the clothes out on a table. Make a sign (nothing fancy, magic marker is fine) stating BOYS' CLOTHES size x-z FREE. Whoever needs it can take what they want. You can provide bags for them to take the stuff but don't oversee it.
You could add a whole new element to your ministry! Twice a year our church has what we call "buttons and blessings". Whoever has clothes to give brings them and it's free for the taking, you don't have to bring stuff to take anything. It started before I came but I think they began with just kids clothes. Now it's kids and adult clothes, toys, strollers, whatever you no longer want that somebody else can use.
We have separate tables according to gender and size.
i believe whatever isn't taken at the end of the night is donated to a homeless shelter or something. At least it used to be. The woman who runs it now is very invested in this. She collects and stores stuff all year waiting for this event.
We advertise in the newspaper to encourage people to "shop". But since you already have people coming for the food pantry it won't be hard to let them know. And we welcome them to bring stuff to pass on if they want to.
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Post by moveablefeast on Jan 14, 2015 0:16:54 GMT
I don't like the boxes. I always see stuff sitting around for weeks on end, and I picture those boxes leaking and the contents just getting ruined in the rain. I would rather give my donations to a place where I know they will actually at least be received.
We have a church thrift store which I quite like and I give a lot of donations to them.
If my choices were church or the boxes, my answer would always be church.
Our friends who do mission work in desperately poor places (including with the aforementioned orphans in Africa) honestly just don't want the discard clothes. They say it is better to give small sums of money because they can turn around and use that money to buy garments in-country and thereby support the local economy. It is much more efficient this way anyway - shipping things abroad is not an economically or logistically ideal process.
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Post by myboysnme on Jan 14, 2015 13:36:41 GMT
Our friends who do mission work in desperately poor places (including with the aforementioned orphans in Africa) honestly just don't want the discard clothes. They say it is better to give small sums of money because they can turn around and use that money to buy garments in-country and thereby support the local economy. It is much more efficient this way anyway - shipping things abroad is not an economically or logistically ideal process. In some countries the exchange on the money severely impacts what can be done with the money. For example, in Haiti, it is preferable to send actually goods because the cost of items in country is prohibitive. The ministers handling donations ask for specific types of things, not money. Then those items are crated and shipped over. Other factors determine whether or not money or goods are preferable. The most heartening thing to me though is the desire to give and to have the giving actually matter. But we can't get too hung up on that or we won't give as freely - we'll begin to attach stipulations. I think informed giving is great, but just giving freely is equally so. |
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raindancer
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by raindancer on Jan 14, 2015 13:43:23 GMT
I wish this were true. Giving "freely" from our western perspective is often harmful. This idea that anything we do is "good" because our intentions were good is one we need to put a halt too. We are not always helpful.
It is more important when giving that we are mindful. Intentional. And that we look to those who are trained, who are educated in this area to guide us. (And I'm talking about trained public health professionals, many of whom go to school for many years to learn about cultural awareness, actual need versus perceived need, etc). While church missions *can* be helpful, very often they are misinformed with intentions that are good but without any actual insight into the real need.
We cannot simply say "I want to do this" and then call it good.
We cannot simply overlay our western ideas about how things should be onto other people and expect them to be grateful or for it to even be helpful in a meaningful way. The global health people I know are generally not very assertive and won't speak out about this nearly as often as they should. They are kind in heart and spirit and try to make the best of a bad situation. But the honest to god truth is we need to be more aware and think a little bit harder about what we are doing.
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Post by threegirls on Jan 14, 2015 14:10:32 GMT
Take the items to your church and let folks take what they want. You might not have much left over to donate.
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Post by genny on Jan 14, 2015 14:18:52 GMT
Church (but don't oversee it) and then donate what's left. I recently found out about a local Facebook group that I joined when I had a TON of stuff to get rid of with my recent decluttering (which is nowhere near done, BTW). It is local to my area but you may have one similar - it's called Families helping Families and the women that oversee have a ton of rules to make sure people aren't getting taken advantage of and are adamant that no money is ever exchanged. You can post your NEEDS only on certain days, but you can post what you would like to give away any day of the week. Multiple posts per day show up on my feed and it's heartbreaking to read some people's needs, and then so heartwarming to then read the responses. Anyway, I posted on the group what I had and within seconds had several replies to people who needed it. I set a meeting time at a public area near my home and it was first come first served. The lady who met me there and got the stuff was SO grateful. either she was a great actress and I was being duped big time or she was very clearly in need. She sent me a text a few hours later thanking me again and stating there were some clothing items that did not fit her children - did I want them back or was she free to pass them along to another person she knew that she thought could use them? That made me feel very comfortable that I had made the right choice and that she was on the up and up. And of course, I told her to please pass them on. I could really have used the tax deduction by donating to Goodwill, but somehow this felt WAY better. |
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