On Monday, a vehicle bearing garbage bags seemingly full of donations dropped off several bags behind My Second Hand Store in Airdrie.

 

The bags were opened and sorted to find that none of them had items able to be sold, and some were absolutely filled with trash. 

 

Store owner Dallas Morrison says this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

 

"It's not something brand new. It's not like it never happened before. Because we're a secondhand store, some people just kind of assume that we function like other thrift stores or the salvation army or something. They just kind of leave items at our back door."

 

Even if the bags were full of proper donations, dropping them off at the back of the store is not the way to donate properly.

 

"That's not what we want, we're actually a consignment store, not a thrift store or a not-for-profit. We're actually a small business. When we noticed a lot of people started doing this, we put out some signage on our back door as well as our big bay door just saying that only pre-authorized drop-offs are allowed here, please no unwanted drop-offs. we also have it on our front door saying 'please book an appointment if you'd like to bring anything by, whether it's for consignment or donation'."

Morrison says that the donations, when done properly, are always very much appreciated.
 
"We always appreciate donations here at My Second Hand Store. When someone brings in a donation and it meets our guidelines for quality that we can sell in our store, 40% of those donated items the money goes to local charities. We just gave a cheque for $1,260 to the food bank and we do other work like that."
 
Morrison says that dropping off trash like happened on Monday is not just a mild inconvenience. 
 
"When people drop off literal garbage on our back door, it takes time and money away from our efforts to try and do stuff like that because I have to spend my time and money with my staff to go through it and realize that 'well, this is all junk, none of it is (able to be kept)' and then I also have to pay for the proper disposal of it, whether it be to a landfill or to a recycling depot or anything like that. So it's a little disheartening."
Ironically, the store had previously put out a notice against this kind of action in the prior week.
 
"We put out a posting earlier last week (saying) 'guys, please don't do this. We only accept donations on an appointment basis. Please give us a call and we'll work out a time with you guys'. And then on Monday, someone dropped off just a load of garbage. There were yard clippings, there was broken strollers, clothing with rips, and there were bags with holes in the bottom where I could fit my hand through."
 
 
"We're not a dumping ground, we're a business and we want to try and do our best to help the local community but that kind of stuff really takes that away from us."
 
Anyone looking to donate to My Second Hand Store is encouraged to call and make an appointment prior to attempting a drop-off.
 
"We appreciate our local community bringing us stuff and wanting to use our services, it's just when unwanted items get dropped off and they're unusable, it's not fun and it also takes away from trying to do good."
 
 
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