Local volunteer encourages to ‘donate with dignity’
Due to the devastating floods last month, people have rallied together to donate items to those who lost everything to the disaster. The floods, which were described as one of the worst disasters in KwaZulu-Natal's history, displaced 40 000 people and destroyed or damaged some 4 000 homes.
A LOCAL volunteer, Sue St Leger-Stretch, has spoken out about the hundreds of damaged and unusable items which get donated to local charities every day.
This added additional pressure on local charities to offer relief to the flood-stricken victims and communities.
Although the volunteers are grateful for generous donations that help people all around the province, some donations are severely damaged, forcing organisations to dispose of them rather than distribute them.
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”As a regular volunteer and active supporter of various local charities, I have been both surprised and astonished at some of the items which are donated instead of being dumped in the bin. It’s so disheartening for volunteers to spend precious time having to sort through bags of donations only to have to throw away items and potentially end up with a pile of rubbish they now have to discard,” she said,
According to St Leger-Stretch, some of the unusable items included: expired tinned food, large quantities of single shoes that did not have a match, dirty clothing, ripped, and unwearable, toys which have been broken, unclean linen, broken jewellery and appliances.
Upon receiving unusable items, St Leger-Stretch took it upon herself to create some guidelines which will be helpful to those who are cleaning out or looking for items to donate.
“Before you donate an item, think about how you would feel receiving this item, if it excites you donate it, however, if it does not throw it in the bin.”
St Leger-Stretch advises to clearly label items as well as to pair shoes, to make it easier for volunteers to sort through and distribute. She further noted that items such as chipped cups or plates could still be donated to organisations who are able to make use of them.
”These items can be labelled as damaged but usable,” said an optimistic St Leger-Stretch.
She encourages the community to continue to give and support those who are working hard to distribute items to those in need, but reminds people to not put volunteers to work sorting through trash that should have been thrown away.
”We have so many people who are desperate for assistance, but as volunteers we want to donate to them with dignity and make the person feel valued when we hand over the items. If you wouldn’t want to give the item to a friend or family member, please bear in mind that it might not be for donation,” she concluded.
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