What NOT to donate

I get it.

We want to be helpful to others - especially when we have a very abundant closet. We can spare last season's fashion for people who find themselves with very little.  The reality is, some of our donations go to waste.  And when you spend hundreds of dollars shipping clothing and other items around the globe, only for half of those items to be deemed useless to the very people you are trying to aid, it makes one wonder who you are ultimately helping.  Please think about who you are trying to help as you are gathering clothing to donate.


Before I go through the types of donations I've seen that are useless, I should preface this by saying I'm coming at this from a refugee NGO standpoint.  Donations are sent world-wide for a number of reasons -- natural disasters, governmental crisis, sudden economic shortages, etc. The most common donation collections these days are for those suffering from natural disasters (as seen by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti or the 2013 typhoon in the Philippines), and the refugee crisis (donations concentrating mostly in Europe despite less than 1% of world-wide refugees crossing into Europe). So as you consider helping refugees, please remember to think about them as people, not a faceless mass who will gladly wear your clothes.



It is vital to understand the people you are trying to help.  Do not simply throw clothing and items into boxes willy-nilly and ship them off.  Here are a few things to consider as you start packing up a few boxes:

1. If you're answering a call for donations by a particular NGO or other organization, ask them directly what their most desperately needed items are.  I've meet too many people who offhandedly remark, "Oh, they'll take anything"...."beggars can't be choosers".... and "they'll take what they can get."  After working very closely within an NGO (specifically in the donations department), I can tell you first hand how ignorant and flippant such remarks are.
Why waste hundreds of dollars/euros/etc. on shipping boxes of clothes/items that are just going to be stored in the-land-that-time-forgot because not even the NGO has any idea how to pawn off these yard sale discards.
2. Know who your donations are going to.  Know the demographics, know the culture, even try to understand their religious affiliation.  This will undoubtedly alter what you give.  The asylum seekers crossing into Europe are mostly from the Middle East (Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Pakistan) and Africa (Congo, Algeria, Somalia, Eritrea, etc.).  It goes without saying that these are conservative cultures.  I am still flummoxed by some of the completely inappropriate clothes that are shipped over!

1. Please send functional clothes and other items specifically requested by the organization you are donating through. Durable tops, bottoms, shoes are great! New baby bottles and formula are also welcome items.
2. Do NOT donate clothing that has obscene/inappropriate language/symbols on it.  No matter what organization you are donating to, the people who are receiving them still deserve dignity, so be cognizant of what you would want to wear if in the same situation.  I've seen shirts with figures giving the world the finger, pinup girls in compromising positions, and this...
   

   

   1) All people see is TERRORIST in bold 2) There's no way I would hand this to a Middle Eastern refugee
3. If the organization requests a particular size of clothing, please only send that.  The NGO knows the demographics, and knows the size of the people coming across the sea.  To be quite frank, they are not large.  Western donations are often rife with large-sized, well-intentioned donations that are unfortunately just being stored.  If you do not have the size requested, then perhaps consider purchasing the clothing.

   Shoe sizes are also important to keep in mind.  European size 44+ isn't as needed, so please be aware before tossing your giant basketball shoes into the box.
4. Another reason they are requesting a particular size is because they have a surplus of other sizes and do not have the space or the use for other sizes.  Donation warehouses are not large, and are only meant to store items temporarily before being handed out.  It is best to send sizes that are requested so that they are not sitting in a room somewhere and can be given out to those who need them most.
5. Lingerie is completely useless to a refugee.  Understand that they will probably be living in a camp, and such luxuries are unnecessary and useless. There is often no distinction between 'night clothes' and 'day clothes'. To further make this point, clothing that is distinctly pajamas is also unnecessary.  They will most likely wear sweatpants/leggings both to bed and during the day.

   

   The nightie fashionistas!

6. Ball gowns/night club dresses, high heels, and three-piece suits also have no place in your donation box.  Where do you think they'll be using them?? This speaks to both functionality and culture.  Women from these cultures will never wear strapless, body-hugging cocktail dresses.  They will be walking on dirt/gravel, so high heels/strappy shoes are more than useless.  And while it's a nice gesture to donate a three-piece suit, something that nice shouldn't be worn in these conditions.

                           
   
   
7. Dresses are welcome, but please think of who will be wearing them.  Light fabric with long sleeves with a skirt that goes at least to the knees (or longer) is perfect.  While dresses with a low neckline or thin strapped sleeves could be layered with a long-sleeved shirt underneath, it is much easier to give women a proper dress/tunic that fits their conservative standards. Heavy woolen dresses don't work well -- even in the winter.
8. Booty shorts/mini-skirts cannot be used.  I stare at these boxed items and imagine the horror on the face of a young woman who just risked her life crossing the sea, only to be handed a pair of shorts to change into because her jeans are soaked through.  It ain't happening.  Trust me.  Cultural sensitivity will go a long way as you are packing up your donation box!

   
   
9. Camisoles, tank-tops, and tube-tops also have no place in a refugee camp for the same reason.
   

         3. If these items you're donating aren't good enough for you to use, they probably won't be for others either.

1. Used clothing is completely welcome as long as it is not thread-bear, ripped, stained, missing zippers/buttons.
  Please understand, it's not about simply clothing them, it's also about allowing them some dignity in what they wear as well.
2. To reiterate, ripped/stained clothing or broken items is not acceptable. It's not worth it for anyone. Whenever I find ripped clothing as I sort through donations, I toss them out, and you should too. NGOs are stretched so thin, they do not have time to mend these clothes once they arrive.

   

   

   This isn't even the worst of what I've seen; just the quickest example I could find.
   
3. The same goes for shoes -- if the sole is falling off, why are you sending it? If the shoes require laces, please be considerate to send shoes with laces on them.  I'm always puzzled whenever I come across lace-less shoes since these cannot be distributed.
   Also, please take an extra 5-10 minutes cleaning off the mud caked on tennis shoes and work boots before shipping it over.  We know these shoes are still usable, but again, they may not be dignified to hand out.

     4. Please wash your clothes before sending them! This is also true for anything you donate.
 
     5. It would be AMAZING if the clothing was sorted and labeled beforehand.  I've spent countless hours sorting through boxes of donations.  The donations are great - don't get me wrong! - but it would save us tons of time on the receiving end if the box already has the gender, size, and other specifications (long/short sleeve, trousers/shorts, etc.) written down somewhere on the box. Don't sweat it if you don't have time; this is just a helpful tip from a donation sorter. :)

The last suggestion I will make concerns money.  Oftentimes we might shy away from "throwing money at a situation"  because we want to be more impactful.  But when considering where we are shipping items, it usually costs more to ship than the actual worth of the items being shipped.  Sending money to an organization (especially a grassroots NGO), does far more good than you realize...

1. It helps the organization purchase the specifically needed items much quicker than waiting for a box to come in the mail. 
2. It is far more cost-effective since all the money would go to the organization instead of shipping. 
3. It supports the local economy that is most affected by the refugee crisis.  This is more vital than you may realize.  Speaking for Greece in particular, their economy is already struggling without the added weight of trying to support the thousands of refugees that cross the boarder every year.  By sending money to NGOs working in Greece, they are able to purchase items in-country and perhaps improve the perception of the NGOs and refugees in particular.

For some organizations, it is possible to specify how you want the donated money to be allocated. If you are concerned that the money may not be used appropriately (or mismanaged), I encourage you to speak directly to members of that organization, coordinators of the operation, and the volunteers themselves.  Grassroots NGOs are often struggling to make ends meet while still meeting the needs of the people they are assisting.  They are often forced to get creative using sub-par methods simply because the funds are not there.  Volunteers themselves are not only donating their time, but their money because they believe so soundly in what the organization is trying to do.  Believe me, any amount of money goes a long way here! One of the best ways to do this is by managing your own go-fund-me type of campaign, and contacting the organization when you're ready to make a transfer to them directly.


If you're curious, I volunteer with Lighthouse Relief on Lesvos, Greece.  I was here last summer and it was literally life-changing. Operations on Lesvos are emergency response, assisting with landings of those who arrive at the north shore from Turkey. Lighthouse Relief also operates on the mainland with the Ritsona camp through Child Friendly Space (CFS) and Youth Engagement Space (YES).

If you would like to know more about Lighthouse Relief, donate, or volunteer, please see their website: http://www.lighthouserelief.org