Some Changes to Our Donation Process
As we are usually only able to open the store two days a week, we have had to restrict the amount of items we can accept. So only two bags or boxes per family – and please don’t try to get around this by using giant sizes, our volunteers (who are mostly retired women) have to be able to pick them up.
Please only bring in your donations on Tuesdays or Thursdays, from 9AM to noon.; Saturdays 11am to 2pm. No donations on Fridays. One of our volunteers will be available to check them. Please do NOT dump.
Our storage space is packed, so we can only take items that can go into the store immediately. For example, no winter coats in May, or shorts in October. And please bring in things like Christmas decorations a month or two before the event – not just after.
Since 2022, due to public health rules, we had to add some items to the list of things we can’t take. Please don’t bring us bed pillows / cushions, or previously opened toiletries (shampoo, perfume, make up, etc).
What happens to your donations
We get quite a few items that we cannot sell. Clothes, shoes, pillows, and blankets that are not quite good enough to put in our store are sent to an organization that services the homeless. We also try to recycle as many of the remaining items as we can; but everything else is garbage and we have to pay to dispose of it.
Hard plastics
Hard plastics can no longer be recycled. Which means that if you leave us things made out of this that cannot be sold, we have to pay to have them hauled away as garbage. So please give these items some extra consideration before bringing them to us. If you are unsure, please come by during donation times.
Clothing
The volunteers at Nu-To-Yu ask that all donated clothing be clean, rip and stain free. Please donate used and new clothes that you yourself would buy, items that you have outgrown or no longer wear. The few minutes it takes you to sort your clothes, the resistance of throwing in the clothes you wore that day digging potatoes, means that your donation is easily sorted at our end. Your “donated” soiled, stained items cost the Nu-Tu-Yu $1000’s of dollars a year, money that would otherwise be gifted to a Pender Island community community group. Help us help you by pre-sorting your donations before you arrive.
Let’s minimize waste and maximize dollars to our community.