Charities asking people to stop dumping at donation bins
While spring is the time of year when many people clean out their homes and donate their extra clothes, charities and shelters are asking the public to hold off on donating items until non-essential businesses can reopen.
Some charitable organizations don't have the capacity to retrieve the donations because they are closed due to physical distancing measures, while others are seeing their donation bins overwhelmed.
"Both well-intentioned but misinformed donors, as well as clearly some bad actors, have been using bins like ours as basically dumping grounds," said National Diabetes Trust (NDT) CEO Sean Shannon.
NDT is a social enterprise affiliated with charity Diabetes Canada, which operates a network of over 5,000 clothing donation bins across the country.
Shannon said he's been getting reports that his organization's donation bins, including some in Orléans and Petawawa, Ont., have been overloaded with bags of clothes, furniture and garbage.
This, despite the fact that many are padlocked and have signs posted which explain the organization is not currently receiving donations.
Diabetes Canada temporarily laid off all 500 staff who run the organization's donation service after Value Village, the main customer for its donated textiles, closed its doors on Mar. 20.
"I'm the last person standing," said Shannon. "I can't go around personally and do this."
Shannon said he's appealing to community leaders and politicians to spread the word to would-be donors to hold on to their donations until they can be properly handled.
Diabetes Canada released an open letter to that effect on Monday.
"It's great that you are donating .... [But] keep it at home, keep it safe and dry, until such time that the industry is back and running again," said Shannon.
Premier Doug Ford echoed that message at his daily news conference on Tuesday, pleading with people not to drop off donations for the time being. He said he was made aware of the issue after a call from Diabetes Canada.
"[People] are cleaning out their garage, and they start dumping everything in these boxes," Ford said. "Do not drop anything else off there because every box you go by just seems to be cluttered."
Some organizations still accepting donations
While much of the retail sector, including most thrift stores, have shut down as part of ongoing measures to combat COVID-19, some charitable organizations are still receiving donations.
The Gatineau, Que., chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters continues to accept donations from members of the public.
President Pierre Deschamps said the organization no longer picks up items from people who want to donate, but donors can still donate at the centre's main building — they just can't come inside.
"They can drop them off at our door and then, taking great care, we take them in," said Deschamps.
Deschamps said donations are down by about 90 per cent at the moment compared to normal times.
Meanwhile, one of Ottawa's largest homeless shelters is also discouraging people from donating clothing to its donation program.
The Ottawa Mission's clothing program provides clothes for shelter residents and members of the public who need them for job interviews, weddings and other events. It receives over 7,000 visits per year, communications director Aileen Leo said.
Putting the clothing program on hold is necessary as part of a series of infection control measures meant to minimize the risk of residents becoming infected with COVID-19, Leo said, one of which is limiting visitors.
"Fortunately we have an existing inventory of clothes downstairs but we can't have people coming and going because we are limiting the numbers of contacts people have entering and exiting the shelter," said Leo.
