HA ! .... the old adage of "beggars can't be choosy" does not
apply to many of these goodwill places.

...snip rant...

i suppose they don't want to be the dumping ground of all
the unwanted "junk" people get rid of....

Having been involved w/ several local organizations, I can assure you
that is a prime problem any more that didn't used to be an issue. We
had to finally close the local Salvation Army donation center simply
because we couldn't afford the manpower it took to clean up the junk
dumped in the collection centers overnights and weekends. Every
organization has to maintain its own policies otherwise they will
virtually certainly get overwhelmed.

And, while it is true that a portion of it is that there isn't the
demand for used goods in some areas as much as there once was, mostly
it is that the proliferation of "giving" for the tax benefits or the
cost-avoidance of dump fees, etc., has innundated the recipients and
they've been forced to be more selective.


A year and a half ago when hurricane Ivan dumped 6" of rain in our area (SW
PA) many people lost everything due to flooding. They had a big drive for
donated goods.

Well I was watching the news coverage of this and saw people just dumping
the junk that had accumulated in their basements. The worst was someone
unloading an old stove from at least the forties. You know the 40" wide
stove your Grammy had that can't fit in any kitchen built after the fifties.
I just thought of how much money someone was going to have to pay to haul
this junk to the landfill. I know some of you will say its better than
nothing, but I'm sure they would much rather have had Sears or Whirlpool
donate so many new stoves and deliver and install them where they are
needed.

As for second hand stores being more selective. They know what sells and
now that we have a consumer driven economy people are replacing more than
ever.