To think charity donations aren't appreciated?

[USERJ]

I saw a viral Tik tok of a lady in what looked like a donation centre, going through the bags and making complaints about what people have put in these bags. (Dirty clothes I agree is completely unwanted!!)
But some things she complained about were a pair of high heeled shoes, a religious outfit and some items which can be considered out of fashion. Now whilst I appreciate if you had just lost everything in an earthquake you may not be thinking of high heels straight away but surely they would be of use to someone? Someone who needs heels for a job? For a job interview? Or for any special occasions coming up?
The religious outfit she seemed to mock just makes me lost for words. I then looked at the comments and similar videos were shared from different donation centres of other volunteers complaining for example a sports top that was bobbly...like really?? (My clothes are bobbly!!)
I'm not saying all donation centres do this but AIBU to be annoyed by watching this video?

It doesn't even make sense to talk about it as about "donations".
There is a system in place for material which isn't a piece of clothing someone would like to buy anymore, but can be recycled.

Maybe the word donation should be reserved for giving something actually useful and the rest we can name somehow like "at least a bit responsibile waste management", so it would be clear that the charity shop isn't receiving some great favour they should be grateful about, but provides a valuable service (takes your old stuff away for you and deal with recycling)

Absolutely. Yet again we're seeing the pleas on local groups for people to pass on all their stuff. Frankly, it would be far more useful to donate just a couple of quid than it would to donate stuff that people probably don't want, and even if they do it's a huge effort and cost to get it there.

But it gives people the warm fuzzy feels to give stuff rather than handing over a tenner. Plus giving "stuff" allows the opportunity to post about it on social media, take photos and virtue signalling by "asking honestly" about who is collecting and where you can drop off your things. Bank transferring or popping into your local Red Cross/Oxfam/Save the Children with cash just isn't as social media friendly for most.

Don't be so ridiculous OP.

I think the reason some people give crap to a charity shop is so they don't have to throw it away themselves. However broken or unsaleable an item is, if they don't have to throw it into the landfill bin themselves, they don't feel the guilt.

When I do this I separate the rags and always ask before handing them over. Not all charity shops collect rags.

Yep, this.
Someone on my FB has posted a pic of her daughter in front of a pile of bags of donations, ready to go to a charity shop. Why??

Exactly this. Donate clothes and stuff to a Red Cross shop, the money raised can be used directly where its needed. Its ridiculous to spent £1000s to ship a container of random stuff, or on fuel to drive it. Much more efficient to buy clothes and supplies in Turkey, also supporting the local economy & allowimg agencies & individuals on the ground to assess what's needed. The vast majority of stuff transported gets dumped in landfill, another burden for the country that experienced the first disaster.

This happened when the war in Ukraine started too. There were appeals for pet food, and containers of Asda Price dog food were shipped at great cost to the borders. Money is better and would go a lot further, along with supporting the local economies.

Exactly this. People just want to get rid of stuff, they don’t think about each item they are putting into the bag. Obviously heals are not really needed, warm clothes are needed, these people are living in freezing conditions, sleeping in cars or on the streets. Jumpers, scarfs, gloves, warm socks and sensible shoes are needed. I think a lot of people use it as an excuse to get rid of all there old clothes that are fit for the bin.

Having recently been going through a huge mound of donations then the Op is wrong.

Yes, it would be much better in a lot of ways if everyone who gave a bag of stuff gave £5, but the reality is that you get fairly little that way. People are (naturally) suspicious of giving money and also people may be happy to give the sleeping bag that was bought for DofE ten years ago and used once, cost of £30, but don't have £30 spare to give.
I would give a plea that if you are in the situation that you want to give and are happy to give money, do some research for the charity you want to support and find somewhere where you are happy your money will be used wisely. But if you want to give item, look at what they're asking for and keep within those bounds. If you're unsure then ask. They'll happily tell you whether they will send over a couple of teddies. Let them make the decision not you. It's not personal, it's practical.

When you hand your bag of worn pyjamas over to the people who have asked for good quality coats only, you need to realise that, firstly, you're by no means the only one, so it's not a case of just your little bag. Secondly the area it's stored in may be limited so by giving that bag they may be forced to turn away a more useful donation. But also, if you are sending stuff out to a disaster zone, it costs to send things. They're not going to send a lovely pair of high heels when they can send something far more essential for life. Give the high heels to a charity shop where they can get money for it, or put them on marketplace and donate the money yourself.
If they say that they'll take rags and get money for them, that's a different matter.

It is amazing how people give in such circumstances. We were overwhelmed with the amount people had brought.
There were some things that we knew couldn't be sent over due to weight or wouldn't get used, but were sensible thoughts. We made sure they went to places that would get used.
But honestly, who thinks that Turkey needs a sausage dog draught excluder or two copies of "letter A" Encyclopedia Britanica?

Warm clothes are needed, but as other have said, collecting them here and driving them to Turkey and Syria where then then have to be sorted again and distributed is not helping. If you want to help (rather than just make yourself feel better) then donate cash. I know not everyone has spare cash at the moment, and that’s fine. Just share the DEC fundraising link so others can. Don’t delude yourself that by giving an old coat in this country you’re helping in any way.

I used to volunteer in a shop...a lot of old dirty items donated including a lovely pair of dungarees, whose owner at some point, had severe diarhea...why not just bin stuff like this..??...our council dump is closer than the shops so take it there !

It's not complicated:

Disaster aid or help for underdeveloped countries: cash donations
Charity shops: good quality, nearly new clothing and shoes, books, handbags, crockery, jewellery, toys etc in good condition and without bits missing,
Clothes bank: all other (clean) textiles
(Some pet charities welcome clean towels or bed linen)

Nobody wants dirty or broken things in any shape or form, or outdated encyclopedias and the like.

It's not complicated at all @TessoftheDubonnet . Would I buy this myself. Easy question. Be realistic.

But many people who donate get really offended about it, there are countless threads about charity shop volunteers not falling over themselves in gratitude over their bags of tat. If you're unsure, pick up the phone. As if they can PAT test electronics, or take bags of rags.

Onjali Rauf, the author and refugee campaigner tweeted this today:
twitter.com/OnjaliRauf/status/1627238564227346432?s=20

Nobody should be sending used clothes to people in need. It makes the giver feel better - not the recipient.

Exactly - its all about the giver. Which is why, if you say something everybody bleats about the feeling of the poor donor who was so desperate to 'do something' so you can't 'criticise'. Its white saviour, unthinking, ignorant self indulgence.Drives me up the wall.

Way back in the day I was working in a job that helped sort charity donations for victims of a natural disaster.

One big shoe chain donated 100s of shoes.

Left shoes. All of them.

Not useful.

Sometimes you do think WTF! I am sympathetric to people who really want to help. That's fine, even if it can be hit or miss. It's when people ' companioes use it as an excuse to get rid of complete and utter shite. It's like the time when I had a newborn and a friend of DHs got out old and broken toys, VHS tapes etc from their garage and gave it to us commenting that it might be useful to us, otherwise we could just tip it. What he meant was 'This is no use to me, so you can tip it for me'.