Yes, it’s a #slatepitch, but that makes it easy to forward to your well-meaning clueless relatives and Facebook-friends. Jessica Alexander, former relief worker, says “Don’t Send Shoes… Send Money“:
… Wanting to help victims of a massive disaster is a human instinct that should be lauded. But unfortunately, well-meaning people repeatedly get it wrong. And this time around it seems that some are already responding in unsuitable ways. Updates have begun littering my Facebook wall from well-intentioned Americans: “On the way to local Filipino Market. With clothes and food … Come on, go through your closets and make a stop at your market. They need food, detergent, canned goods, soap. They need flip flops. Any old shoes you don’t want.”…
After the tsunami, similarly well-intentioned people cleaned out their closets, sending boxes of “any old shoes” and other clothing to the countries. I was there after the tsunami and saw what happened to these clothes: Heaps of them were left lying on the side of the road. Cattle began picking at them and getting sick. Civil servants had to divert their limited time to eliminating the unwanted clothes… Boxes filled with Santa costumes, 4-inch high heels, and cocktail dresses landed in tsunami-affected areas. In some places, open tubes of Neosporin, Preparation H, and Viagra showed up. The aid community has coined a term for these items that get shipped from people’s closets and medicine cabinets as SWEDOW—Stuff We Don’t Want.
Right now, access to people affected by the disaster is a major challenge facing the aid community in the Philippines. According to the most recent U.N. Situation Report, resources to deliver relief goods are extremely limited. Roundtrip travel on the 11-kilometer road which connects the airport to the city of Tacloban currently takes about six hours; it is the only cleared road, according the U.N. The airport’s air traffic control and fuel storage facility were damaged. Consider what happens when plane full of unwanted donations is competing for runway space with planes carrying needed medicines and food items. Someone has to unload those donations, someone needs to sort through them for customs, someone needs to truck them to affected areas which are hard to reach anyway and where there’s a limited supply of fuel. When old shoes and clothes are sent from the U.S., they just waste people’s time and slow down getting lifesaving medicines and food to affected people….
The Philippines has a highly developed civil society sector and effective government disaster response authority. Although Typhoon Haiyan has overwhelmed local capacity for now, their local efforts should be supported. The Philippines Red Cross has already worked to rescue individuals and deliver lifesaving goods to people in hard-to-reach places. Other Philippine-based organizations such as Community and Family Services International and the Philippine Red Cross will know the local needs and how best to respond…
raven
Consider Oxfam, the money actually goes to the people in need.
Baud
More like SWEDOWBCCCDF — Stuff We Don’t Want But Can Claim a Charitable Deduction For
geg6
@Baud:
This. Drives me crazy! I only give cash for these things. Old clothes go to Goodwill.
First snow of the season last night. Ugh.
Schlemizel
I used to volunteer at a food shelf and some of the shit that we had to to handle made me want to bash people with their rotten food. The best example I can give was a can of baked beans that was bulging every way possible. The ends were a good half inch above the can body of the can and we seriously feared for our safety as we gingerly dropped it into the garbage cans we kept for gifts like that. Don’t be that guy.
Applejinx
Seriously. It’s not like they are a third world country supporting their hurt and poor with church bake sales like us! Maybe they have working disaster relief and the ability to efficiently turn money into real relief supplies.
Brutusettu
@Baud: That only applies to the unlucky ducky Americans that have enough itemized deductions to use that option.
Baud
@Brutusettu:
True, but those unlucky duckies are likely the ones following this advice:
CarolDuhart2
One reason I think some people give things is because they don’t trust that the money they give really goes to people in need instead of highly paid executives in a plush office or corrupt local officials. But there is a problem with giving material things from so far away. One, a lack of familiarity with local taboos/customs. What are folks allowed to eat, wear? What is considered modest or age appropriate to wear or conforms with the seasons? Maybe that place doesn’t really need a heavy winter coat. Or they can’t eat pork. Whatever. Secondly, there are doubtless issues with Customs/ Imports. Some countries have laws against some things being imported, even under the emergency issue of charity. Thirdly, there is limited time and money for storage of items not asked for or needed.
So give money-it’s portable, can buy things that are appropriate, and long as it can be securely stored, takes up little space.
Or only give stuff in response to a personal request-a relative or some other close contact who can tell you what they want and need directly.
Save your extra goods for locals who could use the immediate aid and who can appreciate and accept the stuff.
Rosalita
What miserable derogatory shit. Fork over some cash assholes.
First snow this morning…. already?
OzarkHillbilly
@Rosalita:
Yep, just a dusting, but white all the same.
NotMax
Once again, Operation USA, Nobel-winning and dedicated relief and aid organization, which already has extensive ties to and contacts in the Philippines, and which uses next to nothing of monies received for salary and overhead.
Sloane Ranger
@CarolDuhart2:
This.
It’s a concern a lot of people in Britain and the U.S. have and there is some truth to it. But it’s actually cheaper and faster to buy food, clothing and anything else needed locally from nearby unaffected countries/localities than it is to ship them in.
satby
I’ve done relief work too, as part of the Red Cross Katrina response and after the earthquake in Haiti. I can vouch for the fact that stuff like that just sits, getting moldy, until someone has time to sort, clean, and distribute it all; and a lot of it ends up unusable even if it was semi-ok when donated. Money not only can be used for the greatest needs, it also supports the local economies.
SuperHrefna
We had exactly this happen to us here on Long Island after hurricane Sandy – it was a nightmare. The food bank I volunteer for was just smothered in people’s old crap – open jars of Vaseline, used underwear, you name it. The worst part was dealing civilly with the self righteous people who had filled their cars with their unwanted junk and brought it to us – having to go and discuss with them why a food bank wasn’t the place to bring their old jackets from the 70s was a tricky business. They got really angry. It had to be done though, the tidal wave of crap made it almost impossible for us to maneuver inside our enormous warehouse, it really made it hard for us to feed people.
JPL
Please don’t send stuffed animals for the children. After Katrina, the organization that I volunteer for, collected enough stuffed animals to fill a large room. It might make your child feel better but that’s it.
@raven: This.
CarolDuhart2
It brings up an unpleasant memory of last year-Romney’s so-called can drive which only netted a little bit of anything and that was paid for by them and which never really was intended to help anyway. That act reinforced the idea that he was too stingy to actually reach into his pocket and spend money. I believe that, and not the Obama/Christie photo op, is what completely slammed shut the door on Romney.
OzarkHillbilly
@CarolDuhart2: Romney being Romney was what slammed the door shut on his prez bid.
CarolDuhart2
@OzarkHillbilly: True, Romney had done himself no favors. But if there was ever even a glimmer of a last chance available, I think that ended it right there. It showed how stingy and how robotic he really was.
Of course, I know that thousands had already voted for Obama-fully a third of the vote had already been cast. Romney would have had to overcome that margin to have a real chance. But even that glimmer ended that weekend.
CarolDuhart2
There’s a reason why FEMA gave out those cards. It’s easier to give money after immediate survival needs are met. The same reason it’s easier to give out SNAP cards, Social Security, and all the rest. Not having to decide what people eat or wear makes it easier for people to get their needs met in a timely fashion. Cash can be given immediately upon verification of eligibility and will be spent immediately on needs.
Betty Cracker
@OzarkHillbilly: My 15-year-old has never seen snow (and complains bitterly about this each year), and I’ve been meaning to drive her someplace with snow some winter. Maybe this is the year. It’s just so hard to predict where it will be, though.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker:
Really? I predict there will be lots of the white stuff all winter long in North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. ;-)
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: (sorry, couldn’t resist) On the more serious side, the southern Appalachians get snow on a semi-regular basis. Keep an eye on NOAA and an open schedule and you should be able to manage it. One wkend in the cold wet white stuff and she’ll probably never complain again. If she does, give her a one way bus ticket to Duluth MN.
raven
@Betty Cracker: Just bring him over to Seagrove when we are there over Thanksgiving, I’m sure it will snow.
raven
@Betty Cracker: Just bring him over to Seagrove when we are there over Thanksgiving, I’m sure it will snow.
aimai
@SuperHrefna: ROMNEY! ftw! Did you check for a dog strapped to the roof?
I’ve noticed this feeling, even in myself, when I’ve been asked to donate something to a children’s toy or book drive. I have gorgeous books that were my children’s but that they have outgrown. Sometimes I’d like to give them to one of these drives but you are always told (quite rightly) no: it should be something new. These kids deserve new toys and books because it will help them feel as special as they are.
But the thing is that to me these books are very special. A used book is, to me, better than a new book. So I get that people who emptied out their closets don’t necessarily feel like they are offering junk at all–like a hoarder who loves the potential in the scraps she saves they see these things as almost family heirlooms, things that have been loved, things that have been hallowed by time rather than ruined by it.
aimai
@CarolDuhart2: I see that you got there first! Should have read down.
Suffern ACE
Ok. I’m going to make a donation to the Philippine Red Cross today. I’m not a giver of old clothes and food. I worked in social services during hurricane Andrew and believe me, we needed to throw clothes away by the garbage bag full.
I want to make a 2nd donation for an organization that can help rebuild after the immediate crises is over. Does anyone have any suggestions on that front?
NotMax
@Suffern ACE
See #11 above. Click the link and read there about the long-term projects which they have a successful track record doing.
satby
@Betty Cracker: C’mon up here Betty! You guys can visit me, we’ll do some sort of Balloon Juice SW MI-NE IN meetup, and your daughter can romp in the 4 inches of lake effect snow i have on the ground now (and it’s still falling). Start driving, because the weather is predicted to be in the 50s by Saturday ;)
PurpleGirl
Thirty-odd years ago the Lutheran congregation I was a member of helped sponsor a Vietnamese family. (There were relatives in the area but they needed an institutional sponsor.) We asked for donations of clothes and furniture. We told our members the heights and body types of the family — and we got a lot of old, old clothes meant for old, old Germans. Some of the furniture wasn’t bad but the clothes were mostly wrong. We then asked for monetary donations for the family to use to get what they needed. We had to explain what the problem was and a number of members were mad about the clothes being either thrown out or put in the regular thrift sale.
I have found myself explaining to people that they don’t have to buy expensive items like scarfs and hats for winter clothing drives, but the items need to be new. That the acrylic things in the dollar store are okay, they don’t need to buy expensive wool. (Especially when the person complaining starts with “I can’t afford to buy new for my own kids…”, they need to understand that their old, worn items just reinforce a feeling of being second rate/class.)
Belafon
@Rosalita: My oldest is in college in Indianolam, IA, and they got their first snow yesterday around lunch. Everyone looked at him, since he’s from Texas. He had to tell them, yeah, I’ve seen snow falling.
Botsplainer
Doctors Without Borders, Catholic Charities and IOCC (the Orthodox charitable arm) always do good work without preachiness.
Kirk
@aimai: Reread these two sentences you wrote.
“To me.”
That’s not to disparage how you feel, it’s to point out that you’re playing with subjective views.
Which is, sadly, one of the problems of donated goods. Many of us are raised to think that giving a thing is more personal, more ‘good’, than “just” giving money. So even when we’re not unloading crap (ask a library how often they get donations of reader’s digests and national geographics and old encyclopedias), we’re not really giving what’s needed.
Give money. If you don’t like how high on the hog a charity’s administration seems to live find another charity or aid organization. If you insist on giving things ask your charity what they want and need – and don’t second-guess. (Oh, I’m sure somebody will want this instead.)
Please.
JPL
If folks want to clean their closet, they should have a garage sale and send the proceeds to Oxfam or Dr.’s without Borders.
Chris
I’ve never understood the “donate clothes you don’t want” mindset. Look, I’m a cheapass, and I’m not any kind of a fashion expert. If I don’t wear those clothes anymore, it’s usually because they’re in horrific condition.
SarahT
@Suffern ACE: Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, Operation USA, Mercycorps – all good. And always check CharityNavigator, GuideStar, or the Better Business Bureau’s charity evaluator before donating – and not just for disaster relief, either
philadelphialawyer
How about if I give nothing, instead? Cash goes not to the victims, but to a charity’s general account. It is used for all kinds of thing, including administrative costs, fundraising, and so on. Even the best charities, which have low administrative and fundraising costs, actually understate them, because the other major category is “program expenses,” and that also includes salaries and other hidden administrative costs (only “overhead” salaries and ad. costs are included in the category of “administrative costs”). How much money, per dollar, actually reaches the victim, in cash or in kind? Very, very little. And how much goes to the particular event in question? No way to know.
Anyway, it is in the charity’s interest to develop large “programs,” not to simply give away food or medicine, much less cash. The charity is really about employment of Westerners, for them to go to the Philippines and elsewhere and run distribution efforts, rather than leave it to the locals. If runways and roads and such are clogged with stuffed animals and clothes and shoes no one wants, are they not also clogged with superfluous and supernumerary Western relief and aid “officials.” Unless you are a doctor, or, perhaps, a nurse, why is your presence required on the scene? To be in charge, to have a job, that’s why.
Anyway, not for nothing, but beggars can’t be choosers. You are homeless and all your clothes have been destroyed. Why would you not want someone’s old clothes? Or shoes? And the notion about “feeling second rate” and so on doesn’t even apply here. We are not talking about folks who normally rely on relief, but rather folks who have been in a disaster. Charity is not going to be a way of life for them, but a temporary event only. In such a situation, why would the recipient care if the shirt which keeps him warm and dry is new or not? Shoot, I would think that even Neosporin would be welcome. And why should it be on the giver to find out about your local customs and so forth? You don’t want what’s given? Then throw it away. Easy Peasy. The notion that the cows are going to get sick from eating all the unwanted shirts is, I think, somewhat ridiculous. That may have happened one time in one place, but as a real, ongoing problem? Forget it.
Anyway, we are told that the Philippines has a highly developed civil society and disaster relief agency. Good for it. They can handle the problem, then.
Personally. I would actually rather give cash then clothes or shoes. I don’t actually have a lot of shoes or clothes (not pleading poverty, just a fact and a preference). And I have kind of a fetish for privacy too. But, the attitude of the charity industry puts me off. We don’t want this, we don’t want that. Good for you. On the other hand, I am not obligated to give. So,take nothing instead. Have a nice day!
BGK
Our local food bank always prefers cash over food itself. Not only is it easier to handle, but they, on average, get a 6:1 multiplier when they buy from various supplies than donors would over buying retail. My parish church likewise stresses cash only when collecting for disaster relief.
gluon1
Slate’s actually been on this point for a few years. I confess to never understanding the Yglesias hate, so maybe it’s unhelpful to provide links to his work on the subject, but I offer:
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/12/food_drives_charities_need_your_money_not_your_random_old_food_.html
He’s also a huge proponent of just giving poor people money as the best way to address poverty, a point that, to my mind, lies at the heart of Grameen Bank and Mohammed Yunus’s success:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/12/25/give_directly_the_new_charity_that_fights_money_by_giving_poor_people_money.html
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/05/unconditional_cash_transfers_giving_money_to_the_poor_may_be_the_best_tool.html
I think they’re all three very good articles and well-written, for those interested in the subject.
sharl
@philadelphialawyer: Sooo, a plea for certain types of donations, backed up by logical and reasonable explanations for why the non-preferred donations are actually counterproductive, is inappropriate somehow?
I agree with you, dude(tte), don’t bother contributing. Stick to maxxing out those billable hours and working on that winning personality. Have a nice life!
handsmile
With the success of this blog and the increasing number of commenters on its many threads, I am always grateful for those occasions when someone types a remark so thoroughly lacking in judgment, wit, and knowledge that hereafter whenever that nym appears, I can just scroll on past, certain that only pig ignorance would be revealed.
For that, the typist of comment #37 above deserves my thanks.
gwangung
@handsmile: Yeah, stone cold ignorant and arrogant.
scav
@gwangung: and stunningly proud of those characteristics. I somehow have visions of the exact little hair flip it gives as it flirts with itself in the mirror.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@sharl:
Waaaaay too many adults have a reflexive You’re not the boss of me! reaction to instructions of any kind, especially when it comes to their stuff that they paid good money for and should be allowed to give away to whomever they want. The fact that the person/organization they’re trying to give it to doesn’t want it doesn’t enter into the equation.
If you have old stuff that you want to give away, give it to Goodwill or a similar organization. When we have books or clothing to give away, we bring it to the Out of the Closet Thrift Store, which is run by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
But if you want to help disaster victims, give cash to organizations that can buy what people actually need — drinking water, heating fuel, nonperishable food, etc. They don’t need your old clothes — they need to not get cholera from contaminated water.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@aimai:
When I have that urge, I buy a new copy of that favorite book and give it. That way, I still feel like I’m sharing a favorite, but the recipient feels like they’re getting something shiny and new. Win-win!
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
Missing World Media added an update to their kickstarter page that suggested Philippine Red Cross (they are already on the ground), Habitat for Humanity (they have a Re-Build Phillipines campaign going), and UNICEF.
Links at the kickstarter update because link limits.(Not a bleg for the kickstarter; it’s funded. They’re using the updates to push out information.)
philadelphialawyer
@sharl:
My work and my personality are my own affairs.
As for the organizations and what they want, I already explained that. They want money because that is better for the organization, ie for its employees (who typically run the show). Cash can be converted into salaries, in kind donations cannot. Get it now?
philadelphialawyer
@handsmile</a
In other words, you have no real reply and will just skip folks who disagree with you, and with received wisdom.
philadelphialawyer
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
Dude, try and give stuff to Goodwill! They play the “we don’t want it” game too!
Folks have charitable impulses, but they don’t want to be played for suckers.
And, yeah, it is pretty annoying to be told that your stuff, which was good enough for you to buy, and good enough for you and your family, is not good enough for someone who is going to get it for free. Or even for a charity to resell.
kc
@philadelphialawyer:
Indeed. What ingrate would not fall to his knees and weep tears of joy at receiving the tattered, smelly flip-flops that you were going to throw away?
kc
@philadelphialawyer:
Agreed. Other people’s actual post-disaster needs should take second place to our need to feel good about giving them shit we don’t want and they don’t need.
philadelphialawyer
Anyway, charity is mostly all about consumption anyway. Making you feel good about yourself, and better than others. And that latter attitude is revealed precisely in those who revel in not only their giving, but their giving in the “correct” form. So much better, doncha know, than those ignorant, declasse folks who give the wrong way! And not only are those incorrect givers stupid, but they are the “arrogant” ones too! Talk about a win-win situation…you get to talk down people, and have them be the arrogant, “hair flippers” too! You get, in fact, to “be the boss of them,” and then you get to ream them about it, if they don’t like it!
Notice too how charity is being perverted into consumerism. And not just for the givers (as leftists theorists proved long ago). Can’t give poor people hand me down clothes, or even books, because they must have the joy of participating in the new is always better experience. Shivering Vietnamese immigrants, we are told, would rather keep shivering than have good, solid, woolen winter clothes, if those clothes were formerly owned by “old, old Germans.” Yeah, a cheap acrylic scarf from the five and dime is much better than a warm, sturdy, woolen one that is a little too big or the “wrong” style!
philadelphialawyer
@kc:
Well, KC, you will never have to worry about that, because you are the hipsterony correct giver
TM, according to every charity out to make a buck for its employees.
You not only get to feel good about yourself, because you give the “right” way, but you get to scoff in scorn at all the ignorant “wrong” givers too.
And, by the way, if I lived in a tropical climate, and was temporarily shoeless, worn flip flops would not be my first choice, but they would be better than nothing.
kc
Ah, the reveal.
I don’t think anyone is saying that you can’t ever give clothes to people who need them. Rather, if you read the article (and the comments by people who’ve actually volunteered), the point is that shipping a pile of your cast-off stuff to post-disaster areas, regardless of their actual needs, does people no good and actually creates more logistical problems.
But don’t let that interfere with your agenda.
kc
@philadelphialawyer:
Actually, no, I wouldn’t “scoff in scorn” at people who give stuff in good faith, though I don’t think much of people who would insist on foisting crap on aid workers even after being told “We can’t use this.”
Villago Delenda Est
Well, we’ve found one of the guys who are responsible for perpetuating all the lawyer jokes, that’s for sure.
PurpleGirl
@philadelphialawyer: The Vietnamese father was about 5’6″ and weighed maybe 160 lbs. The coat from the old, old German (who btw had been dead at least 20 years when his niece gave us the coat) had been over 6′ tall and weighed a good 300 lbs. I was told by the niece. The coat also had worn spots where the fabric was just wisps of threads. It would never have fit the Vietnamese gentleman and it would have required too much work to cut it down. (Although I’m sure you would have offered to remake the coat, right?)
cckids
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): That works! I’ve found a place for our loved but outgrown childrens books, though – our local shelter for abused women & kids (here it’s called Shade Tree). It is an emergency shelter for women who have to flee a dangerous relationship – and they have a library for the kids. As the children & their moms move on, they will let them take along a book or toy that helped get them through a scary time, so they have an ongoing need for new material. And, most book lovers take good care of their books, so they don’t have that “secondhand” vibe that old clothing gets.
Also, if you know any teachers, they like having books for their classroom library, or to give as prizes for whatever.
dr. luba
@aimai: Do you have any schoolteacher friends? I posted on my Facebook page that I had a bunch of kids’ stuff to give away–crayons, coloring books (most new), picture books and puzzles. The organization I wanted to give them to, a local women’s shelter, didn’t need them. But a third grade teacher read my post and asked for the materials. She doesn’t care if they’re new or not–the classroom can benefit.
She tells me she pulled the stuff out at recess on the next rain day, and the kids were thrilled.
EDIT: posted before I saw the previous comment. Great minds and all that. But definitely check with teachers and schools, especially if they are in a poor district. My friend notes that she saves every crayon she finds. School teachers spend a lot out of their own pockets to provide classroom materials, and can use all the help they can get.
Citizen_X
@philadelphialawyer:
And yet you keep posting here and showing your ass. Piss off if you don’t like us commenting upon it.
dr. luba
@philadelphialawyer: I volunteer with an orphan aid organization, UCARE, which used to send donated goods to Ukraine. This was some years back, when the orphanages had nothing, and there was little to buy in the shops (especially shoes). And shipping was relatively cheap. We spent hours cleaning, sorting, packing, inventorying, and then our Ukrainian staff spent hours trying to get the good through customs (we refused to bribe, so it took much longer). Then we had to rent trucks and pay drivers, to haul the goods (and our volunteers) from orphanage to orphanage.
It was necessary then. It is simply not cost effective now. We find it simplest and cheapest to travel, visit orphanages, assess their needs, and buy the goods locally. The orphanage gets good quality items that they need, and the local merchants prosper. It’s a win-win-win.
One thing that amazed me is what people would donate. Yes, the kids were poor and needed clothes and shoes, but we would get things that were falling apart, dirty, torn. We always specified “gently used,” but whatever. Once we got a whole load of clothes covered in cat fur. And often we got loads of plus-sized adult clothing.
Some of this stuff we threw out. Some we donated to goodwill.
What people forget is the cost of sending stuff, costs that they don’t bear, but organizations do. The ones I listed: sorting, packing, inventorying, shipping, and then all the hassle at the other end with customs and distribution. It is often cheaper to buy new what you need there, or nearby, than to ship used stuff.
Mnemosyne
@philadelphialawyer:
Goodwill has always taken everything I gave them, including stuff like bedding that none of the other charities will take. What the heck are you trying to pawn off on them?
IOW, you’ve discovered that you wasted your money on crap that no one else wants. Sorry, but it’s not Goodwill’s place to make you feel better about your wasted purchases.
Mnemosyne
@philadelphialawyer:
Wait, you mean that people who do the actual work of sorting and distributing want to be paid for it after you’ve gone to all of the trouble of dropping off crap no one else wants? What kind of commie socialism is that?
satby
@philadelphialawyer: Whoa. Totally amazing theories, and not in a good way.
Aside from all your other BS there’s this:
So everyone who works for a charity is supposed to exist on pixie dust, not salaries (for the charities that hold overhead to a minimum?). Only brainiacs like you probably deserve to get paid amirite? Go Gault already will ya?
And lots of the best organizations hire local people where they are doing the work, providing both charity and a needed job to a local person. That’s called a win-win, something usually strived for in the legal profession.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@dr. luba:
My wingnut boss was heard ranting one day about the cost to ship pillowcase dresses his wife had made to Nigeria.
I’ve been involved, on occasion, with the Ships Project. The woman running it is very up front about the requirements. If she doesn’t follow the DOD’s rules, they will revoke her certification to send anything. There are a couple of additional rules beyond that based on feedback from her unit contacts. Even so, sorting out what is shipped to her before sending it on is close to a full time job, and many, many times over the past decade, the bleg has gone out for more money for shipping.
Chris
@dr. luba:
Yarp.
That’s what I meant at 35. Giving the poor my old pair of sneakers with holes the size of tennis balls in them isn’t really better than giving nothing at all.
milehigh
@philadelphialawyer: Hats off, sir/ma’am. That’s some quality trollin’ right there. Either that, or hats off to your complete comfort in broadcasting your mild sociopathy.
In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, some young do gooders in the People’s Republic of Boulder began collecting used yoga mats to donate. They believed they could be used as mattress pads or for shelter…or for something. Many people, myself included, scoffed at their naivety.
In retrospect, I should have noted the condescending tone to many of the comments (including my own). The vast majority of scoffers clearly were the type who never have donated at all, to any cause, or who offload their junk at the company toy drive.
satby
@milehigh: ironically, when I was working in Haiti after the earthquake, I did sleep on a yoga mat. So maybe they weren’t that naive, but cash still would have been better.