Dumping donations a problem

Soroptimist International of La Conner would like to thank the La Conner Weekly News for the front page photo and caption highlighting the reopening of Vintage La Conner, our thrift store. We are also thankful for the article on page two asking the community to refrain from dumping donations on our porches.

Unfortunately, the dumping continues. And it is a big problem for us.

Our club is operating the store with fewer than normal volunteers and a challenged budget due to the pandemic. We are open three days a week, rather than six, as before COVID-19.

The decision was made to take donations by appointment when we reopened in July for good reasons:

• we have limited storage space and limited volunteers to sort, price and display;

• we must limit the number of volunteers working in the shop at a given time;

• we must air out donations for twenty-four hours before items are assessed for further cleaning and sanitizing;

• items that we cannot market are recycled/taken to other organizations for use and distribution at our cost in time and money.

• items left outside get wet, wind-blown and pose a fire hazard. And, they cost us extra important dollars as we must dispose of them.

We have signage at all doors that clearly states our request to not leave items at the door. please, please, please, no more unscheduled donations, aka, dumping. It is discouraging and costly for us at a time when we also are financially strained.

We operate to raise funds for the benefit of the community of La Conner. Help us do our work. We would like to accept your donations but ask that you call for an appointment rather than leave us to clean up a mess.

Thank you for respecting our request.

Sincerely,

Jan Paul

SILC president