TAHLEQUAH — The saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” doesn’t always hold true.

Trash is trash, no matter who it belongs to or where it’s deposited.

Local charities that offer resale shops or that give away clothing and household goods have found themselves recipients of unwanted, unusable material – a trend that has increased recently, agency representatives said Tuesday.

The charities, which struggle to get by in a time of decreased funding and increased demand because of economic conditions, find themselves having to get rid of material they cannot use, thanks to people who apparently regard their donation areas as receptacles for unwanted junk.

The Encore Resale Shop, operated by Help-In-Crisis, was hit especially hard two weekends ago. Its parking lot and donation area became a veritable dump. HIC staff members and volunteers had to sort through, and get rid of, “donations” including five dirty mattresses and box springs, various inoperative electrical devices, clothing in bad shape, and a box of empty Mrs. Butterworth syrup bottles.

People who volunteer and staff the Golden Rule Industries Thrift Shop, Remarkables, and King’s Aid Station report similar experiences.

“It’s just trash, and it’s been getting worst,” Encore Manager Connie Walker said. “For the past three weeks, I’ve been coming down on my days off to clean up.”

Proceeds from Encore benefit HIC’s work with victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Some of the clothing goes to women and children who have entered the shelter with just the garments on their backs, and they also are able to use some of the household items when they transition from the shelter into apartments.

HIC also helps people such as fire victims who have lost everything and need help restarting their lives.

When HIC board member and volunteer Sue Agnew arrived for her regular stint at Encore Aug. 3, she was appalled.

“People are using us and the other nonprofits as a public dump,” she said. “These items were not donations. There was no way that anyone could think of them as donations.”

Among the trash were old, broken-down microwaves that Agnew described as “very, very nasty,” “a sofa that had been used as a litter box for I don’t know how many cats,” and other things the store couldn’t possibly usu.

“It looked like someone had cleaned out a rent house,” Agnew said.

Like most of the unwanted “donations” at other charities, the HIC debris appeared overnight, when no one was at the store.

City ordinance authorizes a $250 fine for unauthorized dumping, but the dumpers have to be caught. And Agnew thinks Tahlequah police officers have more important duties than patrolling for trash dumpers.

“It’s just bad all the way around,” she said. “I know they rationalize by thinking nobody’s going to notice, nobody’s going to care.”

That wasn’t an isolated incident.

“Monday mornings they can’t even get into the door because bags have been left there,” she said.

Volunteers have to go through all the donated items. Those deemed unsalable are placed into a metal storage building outside the shop, and are picked up as needed by a mission group that sends them overseas.

The other local agencies use that group, or a similar one, to dispose of their unwanted “donations.”

The mission group pays a small amount per pound, and the money goes to fund the charities’ work.

The Golden Rule Industries Thrift Shop keeps a cable across its driveway when the store is closed, but that doesn’t deter dumpers, Store Manager Carol McDonald said.

She and her workers are used to finding household trash, broken appliances, dirty and wet clothing.

“You name it, we get it,” she said.

“It’s been a real problem here, the last two months especially. Half the time they’ll dump it at the gate and we can’t get in.”

Other times people pile the refuse up in front of the door to the shop, and it has to be moved before workers can unlock the doors each morning.

“Every time they dump things off on us, we have to fill our Dumpster, and that costs us,” McDonald said.

HIC also had to have the city place a Dumpster at Encore because of the dumping.

“We have had a real problem with people bringing broken electronics, TVs, computers that don’t work,” McDonald said. “We get old sewing machines that don’t work, furniture that is absolutely in pieces.”

And it gets worse – especially for the people who have to sort through the dubious “donations.” Golden Rule provides employment for people with disabilities.

While the employees enjoy working with the public and performing their tasks, they can become quite unpleasant on occasion. “We’ve had sacks of dirty diapers, unbelievable things,” she said.

People have dropped off sacks infested with ants or cockroaches, things that may pose a hazard to the workers who have to sort through it.

At HIC volunteers have found donations that had used hypodermic needles among the refuse.

“A lot of times they don’t even come in, they’ll just leave it out there and someone will find it,” McDonald said.

Giselle Oliver has decades of experience with resale shops. She managed the Remarkables shop, operated by the Tahlequah City Hospital Auxiliary, for a decade.

She still volunteers at Remarkables and at Encore, and buys supplies for HIC and its resale operation.

Asked if Remarkables is besieged by things it can’t use, she replied

“All the time. Right now we have a whole bunch of computers out there.”

Sometimes people drop off things the shop just can’t accept.

“We can’t have large things like refrigerators or couches because we have no room. The ladies [volunteers] are elderly and they can’t handle it,” Oliver said.

Remarkables also doesn’t want “really dirty laundry. We dump that,” Oliver said.

Like the other operations, Remarkables staff members prefer to have people drop off donations during store hours.

That way anything that’s unacceptable can be rejected. The store has problems with people leaving stuff after hours, especially in the area behind the store.

And when it’s left after hours, it doesn’t always go where it’s intended.

“There are a lot of problems with vandalism. They leave it outside. I’ve seen people coming with trucks and taking it,” Oliver said. “Everything is all over the place, and they pick up what they want.”

The King’s Aid Station also has had some problems with unwanted donations, although not as many as the other agencies, because the site is checked more regularly, Gloria Sinclair said.

She wants donations that are “usable, not just discards.”

King’s Aid Station gives away clothing, household goods and other items twice a week to people who can use them, she said.

Things that aren’t suitable to be given away are discarded in the Dumpster.

What happens to stuff dumped after hours at all the sites is similar to a neighborhood, where people put trash out and dogs get into it.

Passersby rummage through the stuff, flinging aside items they can’t use.

All of the agencies want to be good neighbors and don’t want to inconvenience nearby residents and businesses.

Encore is next door to a law office, and Walker doesn’t want rubbish to litter that parking lot.

While agency representatives don’t want unusable items, they all express gratitude for the many good quality things Tahlequah residents bring in.

“This community is incredible in their generosity, when it comes to donations,” Agnew said.

“It’s just a very small fraction that ruins it for everybody else. I feel very strongly that Encore and the others are fulfilling a need.”

What’s next

The second in a three part series on charitable donations will discuss what, when and where to give gently used items.