Donation surplus overwhelms thrift store

Diane Trail
Atlantic Correspondent
atlantic@christianweek.org

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE-A Salvation Army thrift store is putting a temporary ban on donations as its storerooms overflow with an abundance of second-hand goods.

"We were too full. It was a problem for fire safety," explains Major Derrick Barrow, director of community and family services for The Salvation Army in Charlottetown. In early July, Barrow contacted the media to ask the public not to bring donations until the current backlog can be addressed.

Barrow says the overload is taxing the Army's resources. "We need time to clear up what we do have, and as long as donations keep on coming in the way they are at the rate they are, then we're unable to do that," he told CBC News.

Every storeroom was packed with goods-so much so that the Army had to rent tractor-trailers to store it all. The Army also had to pay for garbage trucks to haul away some of the donations that were not resalable.

"In the last week we have taken six dumpsters full to the garbage. That's $130 per dumpster," explains Barrow. The overflow is beginning to ease, but there is a lot more sorting to be done.

Barrow says the public needs some education about what quality of donations thrift store needs.

"Anything you wear out, what is that good for?" he asks. "If you outgrow it or change your style, we can use that. Things that are musty from your basement we can't use. If it is broken, people can take it to the dump free. We have to pay workers to have it hauled to the dump."

The Salvation Army hopes to once again accept donations in September.