Most people have the best of intentions during a disaster and truly want to help those in need, but a small percentage of these people need to use more discretion when it comes to donating items. Used underwear with yellow stains (from urine/skidmarks)??? From the DailyYomiuri:
"Piles of secondhand clothing sent to regions hit hardest by the Great East Japan Earthquake for victims have been left unused, forcing local governments to dispose of them.
Authorities in Onagawacho, Miyagi Prefecture, began discarding donated clothing after the town received far more than was needed.
One of the boxes was untidily packed with worn-out sweaters and trousers. Other items included yellowed underwear and an oil-stained coverall.
Kiminari Kimura, 51, an official of the town government, said, "Although the clothes were donated out of good will, they're no use if nobody wants to wear them."
About 80 percent of the secondhand garments donated to the town have been unwanted, forcing the town government to dispose of a total of 7.7 tons of clothing since mid-April.
Some of the unwanted items were given to recycling companies."
Yuck! I wonder if these people donated chicken bones and and crabshells to the tsunami food relief? This is the kind of stuff that really bogs down relief efforts. How much time and manpower was wasted vetting this garbage? These are the same kind of people who donate candied yams and pumpkin pie filling for the needy on Thanksgiving in the US.
ReplyDeleteThe japanese are classy folk with lots of pride. I think it's tremendously insulting to give items like that to people in need, total losses notwithstanding. Writing off used bibs for tax purposes is as cheap and low as it gets.
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