"Giving" to charity

does not mean "dumping" on charity...but too many people seem to think it does.

In the long process of sorting and clearing this place there have been many trips to the local "op-shops" as they are known locally. "Op" or "opportunity" or "charity" or "goodwill" shops or however they are known are an essential part of our society.

They were almost unknown when I was a mere kitten. You had church jumble sales or some sort of exchange mechanism for children's clothing at the local school. There would be requests for furniture and bedding for the new migrants. I remember the Senior Cat and a Dutch migrant mending a bed in the driveway of our home at the time. It was then taken to another Dutch migrant couple who used it until the husband died some sixty years later. That is perhaps an excellent example of how "charity" should work at a personal level.

I used to take the young Whirlwind to one of the local charity shops. We bought clothes for her and she would spend some of her pocket money on the books she found. Later, she would go alone and find a new-to-her t-shirt or barely worn jeans. Just before they left on their summer holiday she would go in with her father and they would both buy more books to read as they enjoyed their quiet, almost solitary days at the beach. There would often be a charity shop of some sort in whatever place was nearby and they would leave the books they had read there or return them to the local charity shop.

I have taken books to charity shops and I have bought books from them, often to give someone in hospital or recovering in their own home. I would like to buy new books of course and know that the author is getting at least a few cents but at least this way someone somewhere will benefit. 

There are charities and their shops I will not use. I know too much about the way they operate. Genuine charities do not require your presence at a religious service in order to benefit from the help they offer. Their prices will be reasonable - if more expensive than they used to be. 

Our local charities also have to pay to have rubbish collected. They pay the same rate for that as everyone else. They pay the same rates as everyone else as well as for electricity and other essentials. Their volunteers are getting older and less reliable. You need to be reasonably fit to be on your feet most of the day and now you need to do things like attend "occupational health and safety" and "first aid" courses before you can turn up and be shown how to use the till. It all makes it more difficult to run such places.

And then there is the problem of "rubbish dumping". This is not merely taking things that are not suitable for sale but actual rubbish such as dirty nappies and blood stained clothing or things with rips and buttons missing.  I was throwing things out when someone suggested I give an old saucepan to the charity shop. It had not been used for years, not used because the handle was loose. We had tried to fix it more than once but it was not safe. Once or twice I had used when there had been an excess of apricots or other fruit but I knew to simply turn off the heat when the fruit was cooked and leave it until it was cool enough to handle safely. Other people would not know that. I put it in the pile of "scrap metal" Middle Cat took to the relevant business.  It was the right thing to do even though someone might desperately need a saucepan. 

It might be that nobody wants what I have been able to offer but I hope whatever I have given has been genuinely useful and fit for purpose.