I was disturbed by the photo of some of the Oliver Kiwanis, standing by a heap off old furniture that someone had dumped there.  Why are people so thoughtless and selfish?

The Kiwanis work so selflessly for the community, donating so much time and effort into raising funds, so that the community can be helped in various ways.  I have catered the Kiwanis lunches for several years and, at every meeting, there is some local group asking for funds.  These donations are never denied.

Most of the money is raised through the Kiwanis market, known to much of the community as “Oliver Walmart”.  This is manned entirely by volunteers, not just on the Saturday sale days but several other days a week, when the furniture and other donated articles are collected and priced, for resale.  The volunteers are cheerful, friendly and always willing to assist, in an effort to make the market a successful fund raiser.  However, when useless old furniture is just dumped on the forecourt of the market, it has to be hauled away to the local dump and the Kiwanis have to pay for this service.

If the furniture you wish to donate to the Kiwanis is suitable, then drop it off during the hours when staff are working.  I believe this is Wednesday and Friday mornings.  If the stuff is not worth reselling, leave it at your own front door with a “free” sign on it.  If someone wants it, they will take it, if not, take it to the dump.

If people are too cheap to pay for the dump fees, why do they not leave it outside the dump gates.  This is not the way it should be handled but is a better option than dumping in the countryside or on someone else’s property.  If left outside the dump gates, it is an illegal, but easy, option for the louts who think someone else should be responsible for their mess.

Pat Whalley