AHUKINI — “Dog? Did anyone mention a dog?” David Chun of the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center wanted to know. “I’ll take a dog — any kind of dog. I have a lot of dogs and it can join the family.”
“No, the dog stays,” a resident said, accepting a receipt for her load of donations Friday during the monthly donation event at the Kaua‘i Resource Center on Ahukini Road near Lihu‘e Airport, where Chun oversaw a line of cars keeping the ARC crew busy off-loading piles of donations.
Shantelle Rego of the county Department of Public Works Solid Waste Office said residents, businesses and groups should check with their local thrift stores before bringing their unwanted or unneeded items for donation.
These items could include clothing, small furniture, children’s toys, books and shoes, and don’t need to be in good condition. Torn or stained clothing is acceptable. Items not acceptable include eWaste, chemicals, appliances or broken items.
“This is a far cry from the first donation event we did in December 2019,” Chun said. “I guess it takes time for people to get used to this. Now, look at this — a line of cars, and no time for breaks.”
Rego said there was the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of a hurricane that prompted people to clean their homes.
“We had events in January, February and March, before the pandemic,” Rego said. “Then, we had a break in April and May because of the COVID. We resumed collecting in June and July with the threat of the hurricane. People were home a lot, and did you see how busy the refuse transfer stations were ahead of the hurricane?”
Cars containing residents wearing face masks and observing social distancing flowed through the ranks of ARC members, who quickly unloaded cars and loaded the contents into a bay awaiting the arrival of shipping containers.
“We already shipped out a container this month,” Rego said. “There is another one that is ready to go, and two more on the side of the KRC waiting to be shipped.”
Chun estimated that the bay holding the incoming donations amounted to another two containers.
“We’re taking in almost anything,” Chun said. “There are some items that we just have to refuse. Otherwise, guess where all of this is going? The landfill.”
The next Salvation Army ARC monthly donation event is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kaua‘i Resource Center located on Ahukini Road next to the Lihu‘e refuse transfer station and the Reynold’s Recycling Center.
To accommodate the donation event, the county’s free Friday compost bin distribution will be closed on that date.
For more information, contact the Solid Waste Office at 241-4841, email solidwaste@kauai.gov, or visit www.kauai.gov/resuse.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Source: The Garden Island