The Town of Olds is wrestling with a request by an Airdrie-based clothing donation firm to allow it to exclusively have donation bins in the town recycling centre along 49th Avenue.
Elisa Humphreys, the founder-director of Clothing For A Cause (CFAC), made that request during an appearance before Olds town council late last month.
She also expressed hope the company would be allowed to set up bins in the Westview Co-op parking lot, but agreed that's a decision for Co-op to make because they would be on Co-op land, not town property.
Humphreys said the plan is to allocate money raised from clothing donations to the Central Alberta Pregnancy Care Centre in Olds as well as to Haiti. Clothing For A Cause has been donating money to schools, orphanages, a legal aid clinic and other rebuilding efforts in Haiti for years.
In her presentation, Humphreys noted the company already has a similar partnership with the Sundre and District Aquatic Society and has a bin at the town of Carstairs recycling centre.
She also confirmed they already have bins at Home Hardware.
Mary Jane Harper expressed concern about the idea of providing Clothing For A Cause bins at the 49th Avenue recycling centre exclusively, given the fact that the Diabetes Association already has clothing bins there and is a registered charity.
Humphreys said they needed exclusivity in order to make their business/funding model work.
"In terms of being practical about being able to provide funding to the pregnancy care centre, in order for us to do that, we have to collect a certain volume of material to make it practical," Humphreys said.
"I know that seems kind of aggressive, but that was the offer that we could make," she added.
Harper asked Humphreys if she would be OK with having her firm's bins alongside the red Diabetes Association ones.
"We have a special bin," she said, alluding to a photo in the council agenda package which shows a bin with two donation chutes on either side of it.
Humphreys said often, some bins like the ones the Diabetes Association utilizes, quickly become full, giving donors the perception that all bins are full, so they just leave their donations outside the bins, creating an unsightly mess.
"If we go beside those kind of small square bins in a row, then what happens is, we're going into a site that potentially has some issues and we don't want our reputation to be associated with messes," she said.
Humphreys said the Canadian Diabetes Association is a national charity whereas CFAC is a relatively small firm.
"These bins have to be taken care of properly in order to provide funding for that work so it's something that's near and dear to my heart," Humphreys said.
"I don't think that if you look at a large organization you're going to get the same kind of commitment and service level."
Noting the company already has bins at Home Hardware, Coun. Mary Anne Overwater asked Humphreys if she had looked at placing bins elsewhere so the Diabetes Association ones could remain at the 49th Avenue location.
"You know there's something about a recycling centre like that. I mean, you just get a very good deal and it makes it practical," Humphreys replied.
Overwater noted that the Diabetes Association also does phone campaigns to raise money and provides door-to-door pickup for clothing donations.
She said she could support Humphreys' proposal.
"I would not have a problem supporting this," she said. I think it's a good thing and it also supports another one of our opportunities in the Town of Olds.
Coun. Wade Bearchell said he needed more information before making up his mind on Humphreys' request.
"I appreciate your passion and I can see it in your eyes and your face and your voice, but I'm not prepared to make any decision over two charities that are essentially jockeying for position with the amount of information that we've been provided," he said.
Bearchell added he didn't feel it was fair to make a decision that could result in "punting" a charity "out of their spot" without them having a say in the matter.
Council voted to accept the proposal for information.
Chief operating officer Doug Wagstaff said that's really what town officials were looking for. He said they'll now work with bin providers, "exclusive or not," to work out a solution.
