I’ve been advised that within a couple of days the relief agencies will be calling for donations of clothing and bed linen and notifying the public of drop-off points.
In the meantime, potential donors can do a lot to prepare their gifts and add value to their contributions.
Having coordinated the Bargara Centre during the 2011 event I can assure readers that the two most critical concerns regarding items of clothing and linen are these:
- Only provide items which are clean and in reasonable condition and which you and your family would be prepared to wear. Please do not use this as an opportunity to dump your rubbish on others. Sorry to be blunt but believe me, it happens and it ends up making more work for the organisers with half of it ending up at the tip.
- Please take a few minutes to sort, categorise and clearly label your donations into separate parcels – ie, Ladies clothing Size 14, Boys clothing 7 – 8 year old, Sheets Queen Size, Mens/Womens Toiletries, Men’s shoes Size 10 – 11, Toys suit girl 3 – 5, etc.
If everyone does this, it will save a massive amount of time for the relief agencies in handling & distributing the goods.If they just receive a pile of un-sorted and un-categorised goods, it chews up a massive amount of their time and your good intention becomes a real liability.I’m sure that further instructions will be outlined when the announcement is made (about the collection centres opening) but if you take note of the simple steps above, you’ll make the process a whole lot smoother and far more efficient.
I’m not sure what arrangements will be made regarding items of furniture and appliances but I’m sure that this will be advised in due course.