Bin there, done that to help a charity?
Rachel Thomas sorts out where our clothing bin donations go.
Every Tuesday morning at St Vincent de Paul’s Wellington base, Rangi Jury swings open the clothing bins, pops his knees and head inside and unhooks the Santa sacks.
There’s no telling what’s buried deep inside; every week it’s a lucky dip. Today is no different.
‘‘Did someone say we had two bags of rubbish this morning?’’ asks Jury’s colleague, Sarah Ford.
In all fairness, it was recycling, but two green bags filled with household junk – paper scraps, used cans and plastic bits were ‘‘donated’’ next to the bins.
‘‘I don’t think people realise that we have to pay for all our rubbish,’’ Ford says. ‘‘It’s been better in recent months, with people donating rubbish. Not as bad as it was in the summer.’’
One morning, Jury and Ford arrived to a mattress, laden with a pile of clothes – and moving.
‘‘I was a little bit concerned it had rats or something, but it turned out there was a guy sleeping underneath – he’d kind of burrowed into the clothes,’’ Ford says. ‘‘So we took him inside and gave him a hot drink and got our social worker to talk to him and gave him a few warm clothes.’’
Newtown’s homeless community are well known to the St Vinnies staff, and they look out for them, says Ford, the charity’s Wellington marketing and communications manager.
People who have done renovations in their house have been known to use the bins as a dumping ground for leftovers, Jury adds. ‘‘Offcuts of timber, sawdust and everything you can imagine. No body parts,’’ he grins.
Store supervisor Mike East found $40 in a shirt pocket recently, which was a nice donation.
Once the sacks are loose, Jury drags them onto a forklift, where they’re delivered to the upstairs sorting area. There, East and several volunteers weed out the gems from the junk.
The room is dotted with boxes of pre-loved teddy bears and stacks of printed pillowcases awaiting their next home, next to single shoes and faded board shorts, which await the tip.
About 10 per cent of what arrives in the St Vinnies charity bins is too stained, ripped or faded to sell, so ends up as rags. These are sent to a company, which pays by volume, so everything is used.
Clothing is sorted onto racks upstairs, where store managers from across the city pick out what they’d like. It helps if the managers choose what goes to their stores, Ford says. ‘‘Because of the different areas – like the Aro Valley shop has more of a studenty vintage sort of vibe, so they pick out the things that would work there.’’
Jury then loads up the van with the chosen loot and runs it out to each store, where the clothing is priced and left to the mercy of bargain-hunters across the city. ●➤ See video at dompost.co.nz