While more time at home might mean more time to finally get around to decluttering your closet, you may want to think twice about where your castaways are headed before you start pulling hangers off the rack.
As British Columbians continue to practise physical distancing in an effort to halt the spread of COVID-19, many organizations that would typically take gently used clothing are no longer accepting donations.
After closing down its thrift stores and donation centres due to the pandemic, Salvation Army is asking the public to refrain from leaving donations outside its closed stores, or at its donation bins.
As the organization explained in a release, dropping these donations off while stores are closed doesn’t just create a health and safety hazard - it also means many of those donations are stolen or ruined by weather. “In any case, what potentially could be used for good is lost,” read the release.
To that end, the demand for affordable clothing and home items will continue to be high in the following days, week, and months ahead, Lt-Colonel John P. Murray, Salvation Army’s territorial secretary for communications, cautioned in the release. "In the meantime, we are urging Canadians to please set aside their donations and bring them to a Salvation Army thrift store, welcome centre or donation bin, when we are safely able to reopen our facilities," he said.
Last month, Diabetes Canada also announced it had made “the difficult but necessary decision” to temporarily suspend all collection activities,” including any textile donations from homes or donation bins across the country. Big Brothers of Greater Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»has also suspended its clothing donation pickup service until further notice.
In a message posted on the company’s website, Value Village CEO Mark Walsh announced all Value Village stores and Community Donation Centres will remain closed for the time being.
“If you’re using this time inside to declutter, we recommend holding on to your donations of clothing and household goods until we reopen and are able to accept them on behalf of our nonprofit partners,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre said they are not accepting any additional clothing donations at this time only giving out clothes, “if there is an emergency,” while the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Zero Waste Centre has suspended clothing and textile drop-offs and is asking users to “defer spring cleaning to help prevent overloading residential waste collection and depot facilities .”
However, while Vancouver’s Wildlife Thrift Store also remains closed due to the ongoing pandemic, it said in a Facebook post that it would be “thrilled” to open the store up for a private-shopping session in the event an individual was looking to purchase clothing for the city’s homeless population, as one customer had requested.
