Organizations like Goodwill and the Salvation Army rely on donations to do their work and help people in need.
Instead of making donations people are dumping their trash instead at one local organization
Employees at Saint Vincent de Paul in Jackson already have their hands full with legitimate donations. They came to work Tuesday after Labor Day to find yet another massive pile of trash waiting for them.
Management says over the past years it’s only gotten worse.
“It’s like people sit out and wait for us to get it clear so they can come dump more garbage,” said John Sisk, manager of the Jackson Saint Vincent de Paul on 1812 Spring Arbor Road.
From used and destroyed mattresses, chairs, broken glass and even a headless statue, it’s all stuff dropped off which is supposedly a donation.
“We've found a lot of different things, needles, we've found needles with the heroin epidemic,” said Sisk. “It’s a dangerous situation.”
The cleanup process doesn't just cost employees a lot of time, its costing big bucks. So far Saint Vincent de Paul has spent $25,000 and that's just so far this year
“It’s a big expense for our business and all it does is its taking away money that could go towards helping the people of Jackson,” said Sisk.
Sisk says he’s found people searching through the trash behind the building, even someone inside of the afterhours donation bin.
If any donation is stained, dirty or broken, customers cannot use it.
Donations allow Saint Vincent de Paul to help the community thrive and trash isn't one of them.
Management says they’ve been in touch with police but for them it's hard to determine what a legitimate donation is and what's not.
When the afterhours donation bin outside is full, that's all they'll take until the next business day.
