Calgary charities are asking people to stop bringing items to their donation bins and thrift stores. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused some charities to lay off staff and shut their doors.
The result: items piling up outside donation bins will end up at the landfill. “Well-intended but clearly misinformed people are just leaving things outside of the bins, which of course leaves it exposed to the weather and the elements, and unfortunately, just becomes spoiled garbage,” said Sean Shannon, CEO of National Diabetes Trust, the social enterprise arm of Diabetes Canada.
Hundreds of staff were laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Diabetes Canada is one of the Canadian charities that stopped making pickups from bins in March.