Rhode Islanders Reminded Not To Dump Trash At Donation Centers

CRANSTON, RI — With so many people stuck at home due to coronavirus-related closures, many have turned to cleaning out closets, basements and garages. While donating items can be a great way to give them a second life, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island is reminding residents not to dump trash at donation centers.

The organization is instead asking Rhode Islanders to get their items ready for donation and hold onto them for now.

"We implore the community to get donations ready for BBBSRI, but to hold onto them until we can pick them up again," said Katje Afonseca, the orgnaization's executive director. "The product that the community donates is our lifeblood, we need it to be able to open back up to full capacity when the pandemic ends and we are worried that donors will find other ways to recycle their textiles during this time. If the community can wait for us, BBBSRI will be there to take donations as soon as reasonably possible!"

The organization's retail partner is temporarily closed due to the pandemic, causing an immediate cashflow issue. In late March, 65 percent of employees were laid off, followed by a second round last week. With fewer employees and the closure of the retail partner, storage quickly became a problem. Both to save money and slow down the intake of donated items, free at-home pickups have been temporarily suspended. Several clothing bins have also been removed from parking lots, as well.

"Our first issue was cash flow," Afonseca said. "We continued our Donation Center Operations in hopes to get back to full operations in a few weeks. But quickly we ran into another issue – storage."

In the past week, the organizations has had to rent dumpsters and pay trash fees to dispose of the trash dumped illegally at bins and dropoff centers. Items including mattresses, broken furniture are expensive to dispose of and cannot be donated.

"During this time when we are not seeing any income, having to pay to have trash removed is a true detriment to the sustainability of our program," said George Evans Marley, director of development and community relations at BBBSRI. "The average cost to dispose of one mattress is $75. That’s about the same cost for us to run a prospective mentor’s background check. Every time we have to pay that fee, we are taking funds away from the mission."

A list of what is and is not acceptable for donation is available on the organization's website.

Anyone who sees an overflowing donation bin is encouraged to email a photo to Donations@BigsRI.org or call 401-743-2180.