The Stinginess of Charity Organizations: When No One Will Accept Your Donations

As the New Year approached, one of my family's goals was to clean out the house of old items which we no longer needed or wanted. My brother and I went through our room and my parents did likewise. We set aside books we no longer read and clothing we longer wore or we had outgrown. Old board games that we no longer played we set aside. All of these items from our attic and closets that were still in pretty good conditioned and that could still be worn or played we had set aside. Old clothing and shoes that were falling apart we threw away.

A first we had asked our friends if they wanted any of these items for their younger children and afterwards most of them had said that they didn't need them. So we decided that we would give all of these items to charity. We called up several charities and much to our dismay; they would not accept the items. In the past years they had accepted used items like clothing but now they no longer were. After calling the fifth charity on our list of charities that we had obtained, they told us that they did not have the resources to travel to our house to pick it up. We would have to drive a good hour to that charity and drop off the items.

Unfortunately, in the end my family decided that it was not worth the hassle and it would just be easier to throw out our used items instead.

The changing policies of charities has gone mostly unnoticed by communities which is really a shame because I know that most people who live on the poverty line could really use clothing that is still in good condition or board games for their children to play with. Now charities are only accepting donations or items still in their wrap or original box. Their theory is that they don't want to depress someone or make them feel ashamed by taking a used gift. Such an issue of pride and dignity is utterly ridiculous and charities themselves should be ashamed of themselves. Instead of taking items that poor people could definitely use like a pair of jeans or coat to keep them war, the charities are refusing useful items and donations that could really help someone.

Charities no longer want to spend money on picking up an old bicycle for a child to play with that has already been used. I doubt that there have been less charitable donations by society but I do believe that the poor are suffering as a result of these new policies. In big cities like New York City, I encounter homeless people all the time and people in need of clothing. That is where used charitable donations could really come in hand. I am hopeful that charities will start accepting these used items if the public is made aware of these new policies.