Charities warn to not leave donations in the cold

First at Five: Donation Dilemma Charities are eager to receive donations, but ask that items are not left outside in the elements - where they could be destroyed or damaged

While charities are appreciative of receiving donations, some are warning people to only donate during drop-off hours.

“Unfortunately, oftentimes when things do get left outside, they become unusable, which means we can't sell them,” says Cherry Laxton, the chief operating officer at Souls Harbour Rescue Mission. “But not only can we not sell them and take those funds and put it back into the community, oftentimes it costs us to dispose of them.”

Over the holidays, a significant amount of donations had to be sent to the landfill because they were ruined by snow.

Laxton says the organization loses thousands of dollars each month due to landfill disposal fees.

That’s why she’s encouraging people to check the drop-off hours prior to handing off their second-hand goods.

“The need for those donations has increased. The need has increased because the need in the community has increased,” she says. “The number of people using our services and the number of people that we're being able to help obviously increases daily with this climate.”

Gerry Gushue was pleased to join an ongoing flow of vehicles stopping to drop off their goods on Thursday.

“A couple times a year, I have an opportunity to give something back to the community,” he tells CTV News. “This is one way of doing it.”

As the holiday season winds down, more and more people may find themselves wondering what to do with some clothes or household items.

“If they don't do it beforehand, we will often see that after the holidays are over, people will, I guess, purge what was already existing in their spaces and make room for new things.”

Unfortunately, having donations go to waste is a challenge that Habitat for Humanity ReStore knows all too well.

“They get damaged because they're outside. Either they get exposed to the rain or other elements,” says Caleb Freeman, the manager of marketing and communications for the Nova Scotia chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

“That means that we have to take care of disposing those items, which is an added cost to us,” he says.

The organization is trying to be more vocal about the issue.

“We've been focusing a lot on our messaging around dumping and trying to get the word out,” Freeman says. “You know, for people to let them know to please donate during our donation hours.”

While these charities are always appreciative of donations, they just want to ensure they get to the right place.