Clothing donation bin deaths mount

Councillor says boxes ‘not worth another life’ in wake of latest fatality

VANCOUVER— Local politicians want to investigate how city governments can protect people from dying in clothing donation bins.

The issue is back in the spotlight after a man died Sunday in West Vancouver while stuck in a donation bin at Ambleside Park.

One other person died in a particularly high-profile case last year, in which the victim’s boyfriend desperately tried to free her from the opening of the box, located in Vancouver’s Point Grey neighbourhood.

“We have to get rid of those boxes because they are not worth another life,” said Councillor Jean Swanson.

She told StarMetro she asked Vancouver’s city manager earlier this week whether anything could be done to make donation bins safer. Echoing other poverty advocates, Swanson said the bins should be taken off the streets until they are no longer a risk to the public.

Fellow councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung said she plans to introduce a motion about donation bins at council’s first meeting of the year on Jan. 15. The motion would ask staff to explore ways the city can better regulate donation bins, including asking for safer designs or encouraging alternatives like drop-off points, she said in an interview.

Donation boxes are often equipped with spring-loaded doors, controlled by a lever, to prevent animals from climbing in. But people can become trapped in the opening as well.

Poverty advocates say people struggling to survive are driven to enter the donation bins despite knowing the danger because the boxes are potential sources of clean, dry clothing.

There have been five donation-bin deaths in B.C. since 2015, the BC Coroners Service confirmed. In that time, Ontario has not seen any donation-bin related deaths, according to the issues manager at the Ontario Coroners Service.