GIVING IT AWAY
by John Rudy
Until this March, it was easy to give things away. You could take them to Goodwill, use Freecycle, or take advantage of lots of other venues. It was also easy to donate food to food kitchens, clothing to clothing drives, etc. Then everything stopped, and two results have occurred. Things started piling up at home, and those in need lost an important source of goods. Remember the food box at Turner Street and the fall coat drive?
Now that things are beginning to open up, I’d like to make some recommendations:
- Now that we are spending time at home, it is a good time to de-clutter. In Lexington, we have REUSEIT, a program which provides a mechanism for giving things away to other locals. I’ve given everything from furniture to lumber to jewelry.
- Many organizations are now beginning to collect items, usually involving a process in which it sits for a number of days to ensure that there is no contamination.
- Market Basket (and some other supermarkets) have large containers to accept food which they then donate.
- Stop and Shop is now back to collecting bottles and cans but not yet accepting plastic bags.
Have additional recommendations to augment this short report for fellow BOLLI members looking to help?
Send your ideas to susanlwurster@gmail.com for placement in BOLLI Matters.