"Gently Used"...

As I have mentioned many times, I work at a domestic and sexual violence center. We operate a 24 bed shelter, have legal advocates that help with injunctions, go to court, etc. We provide group and individual counseling, both adult and child. We have a 24 hour hotline, provide training and education to community organizations, law enforcement, medical personnel, whoever requests it.

We are funded through grants, both federal and state. We receive funding from private foundations and donations from individuals. We do fundraisers, boy do we ever do fundraisers...everything from Clam Bakes to Wine Tastings, from Fashion Shows to a Peace Breakfast. That is my job, grant writing and events...Development Director.

Even with all of that, we still would not be able to stay in business without our Thrift Store. Our program participants are able to shop for free at the Thrift Store. We have furniture, household items, clothing, just about anything and everything they would need to start their lives over. Those items are also offered for sale to the public at greatly reduced prices. I have found some great deals there and most of my suits are purchased there.

We have two volunteers who take our truck out in the community to pick up the larger items. We advertise that we accept "gently used" items and furniture in "good condition".

Now, I am not sure what part of "gently used" or "good condition" people don't understand. You would not believe some of the things we receive. Clothing in bags that are mildewed, or worse yet smelling of cat spray! Ripped, dirty and filthy items. And our volunteers have to sort this crap. Then we have the TV's and computers...they swear they work and they don't. Or the wonderful bedroom set...yeah right don't get me started.

We have a huge construction dumpster that we use for the garbage, we also have a burn pile that we use for that furniture that is destroyed. Of course, the TV's and Computers and monitors are a different story. We have to take them to the dump and yes, they charge us. We are charged by the garbage company when they pick up the dumpster.

So what is the reason behind this rant? This year, when you are cleaning out your closets, when you are looking to donate items. Please be aware, please be honest, don't send your garbage to a non-profit. Throw it away yourself. Don't make us pay to get rid of it.

Good People Out There!

Yesterday, J at Talking 2 Myself mentioned that she had donated some items to a domestic violence center in her community. I was really quite pleased to hear that, especially since I was pouting and venting and just being a real pissy. It did make me stop a minute and take a look at how much the people in this community (bloggers) really do for each other and strangers.

The Blogathons that were going on this past weekend were amazing! So many people in so many different communities, helping so many different charities! It seemed each time I stopped at someones blog, they were talking about different people who were participating. On behalf of a non-profit, thank you for doing this. Not only did it raise the necessary money for these organizations, it also raised some more awareness. If just one person stopped by your charity to learn what it does, it educated that one person.

For those who do not have the money, or don't want to send money to an organization you are not familiar with, I recommend you look around your own community. Find out who is doing what, who is doing something that "tugs at your heart?"

What kind of thrift stores do you have in your community? What non-profits are they supporting? In our case, our thrift store provides our program participants everything they need to start their lives over. Whether it is clothing, furniture, housewares, dishes, pots and pans, lamps, etc. they can get it from our store for free. What we don't give to our participants, we sell at greatly reduced rates. The money we raise from the store pays for all the other things that our grants do not pay for...toilet paper, food, back to school supplies, birthday gifts for children in shelter, adult and child underwear, medical visits, prescription medicines, the list goes on and on.

We are a little picky over what we accept at the store. It cannot be broken or dirty. For one thing, we do not have anyone to do repairs or wash the items. We have two full time and 1 part time employee at the store. The rest of the staff are volunteers, who sort, size, price and display the merchandise. For another thing, we are not going to give a woman and her children dirty furniture when they are finally able to get their own place.

We get some really nasty things donated. Bags of clothes that have been sitting outside for awhile....yeah, moldy, wet, cats have been in them...One day we had a huge box of video tapes dropped off. The outside covers all had children's titles, even Disney. Good thing we checked inside...Adult Videos, we had to burn all of them.

Well, this is getting much longer than I anticipated. Again, thank you for everything you are all doing in your communities. You are making a difference, one donation at a time!