Should we donate used clothes during disasters?

Donations after typhoon Ompong's onslaught in Itogon, Benguet.

There was a recent viral photo of donated clothes discarded like garbage (not the photo above) and of course we read a lot of negative comments from people who have supposedly donated their used clothes. But did we try to reflect on what we are giving?

This has always been the case every time there’s a disaster relief operation. I had been covering several events where I’ve seen similar things happening. A circle of friends used to go around used clothing stores to solicit donations that we bring to evacuation centers as a relief. Eventually, I stopped and also discouraged friends from soliciting used clothes. But it’s not because the recipients are ungrateful. It’s because this is not their immediate need at that moment.

Photo not mine.

Every time there’s a disaster, the first thing people think about is to give away their used clothing, things they don’t want to wear anymore. Some give away brand new-looking clothes because they no longer fit or they are out of fashion. Unfortunately, some donors just give anything even clothes no longer fit for wearing. Others donate their unsold clothes from their used clothing stores. Many of these clothes are not desirable and that is why they are not sold. Once these clothes are mixed up, they become uninteresting and clothing is the last thing our recipients want now. Many don’t even have the energy to sift through tons of donated clothes. Most of the time, we see truckloads of donations and used clothes take away big spaces that could have used for more essential needs like foods, diapers, toiletries, blankets, and water.

Most of the donated clothes have spent more time in storage that they smell of dust and sometimes wet concrete. Asthmatic people could get asthma attacks when they smell these piles of used clothes. This is why we have a law against donating used clothes to protect the health and preserve the dignity of the recipients, Republic Act No. 4653.

So should we donate used clothes that are still usable? I’d like to think that we can but not during relief operations. And also, they should be properly cleaned. Again as an observation, many donated items smell like dust and rotting concrete. If we are so generous, we should also be kind enough to wash them.

Photo not mine

Perhaps we can bring them after the recipients are settled and we should know that what we are donating is usable. Perhaps better if we have a targeted recipient and that we can have something for everybody. We should know our recipients, their numbers, possible sizes, and ages. Let’s not just donate our unsold size 39 pants to a community where we know most are small-framed people. It will just add to piles of unwanted donations. Another way to donate is to give to organizations converting used clothing to usable rags or remade into new designs.

Let’s avoid saying harsh words to our intended recipients when we see piles of donations being wasted. Again, clothing is not their immediate need. Perhaps after they are settled, they will sift through the donations but that doesn’t mean all of your donated plus size clothing will be used by our regular-sized Filipino brethren.

Let’s be generous but let’s be practical also, and most of all, be kind.

PS. If you happen to know the owners of the photos I used, please message me so that we can credit them properly.