Sun, Jul 20 2008
|
|
Published April 14, 2008 10:45 pm - Charities say they are getting dumped on People leave trash at donation drop sites By Keith Purtell Phoenix Staff Writer As if it wasn’t tough enough to help the disadvantaged, someone is dumping trash on local charities.
Captain George Hackbarth at the Salvation Army said the dumpers come in the night. They leave broken furniture, mattresses and other items that can’t possibly be fixed or sold. “Then we have to put it on a truck and pay the landfill to take it,” Hackbarth said. “Three months ago, we took three loads.” Hauling other people’s trash has cost hundreds of dollars, said Salvation Army employee Glenn Geiger. “It could easily turn into the thousands of dollars, if this keeps up,” he said. And, it’s not necessarily poor people who are making charities pay their trash bill. “One of our staff saw a nice-looking four-wheel-drive truck with an extended cab pull up here early in the morning” Geiger said. “A man and his wife jumped out, dumped all their stuff in our parking lot, then took off.” Gail Shaffer, office manager for Golden Rule Industries, said one of their customers recently got a shock while going through the store. “She was shopping in our store and I heard her say, ‘Oh my gosh!’” Shaffer said. “When I asked her what was wrong, she said, ‘I just reached into that bag and found a dirty diaper.’” The problem is not new. Shaffer said Golden Rule has been the victim of trash dumping for the entire eight and one-half years she has worked there. “We get scraps of wood where furniture is broken clear down to the ground, and we get people’s kitchen garbage bags with food still in them,” she said. “They drop it off after we’re closed.” As for motives, Shaffer said no one has been caught, so she can only speculate. “The only thing I can think of is that they don’t want to pay to take it to the dump,” she said. “But in the case of kitchen trash, everybody should have curbside pickup in their area, so the only reason might be spite.” Reach Keith Purtell at 684-2925 or kpurtell@muskogeephoenix .com. 
•
Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
More from the Local News section
VIDEO: $aving You Money, Week 1 Lying officers put court cases at risk Police cope with credibility issues Foundation’s bylaws conflict with Open Meeting Act, some say |
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
Discuss this story
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
© 2008, The Muskogee Phoenix P.O. Box 1968; Muskogee, OK 74402 (918) 684-2828 Email News tips & feedback |
Popular Business directory links - Muskogee Apartments | Muskogee Attorneys | Muskogee Auto Dealers | Muskogee Auto Parts | Muskogee Auto Repair | Muskogee Beauty Salons | Muskogee Car Rental | Muskogee Dentists | Muskogee Doctors | Muskogee Flowers | Muskogee Hotels | Muskogee Insurance | Muskogee Loans | Muskogee Mortgages | Muskogee Movers | Muskogee Pizza | Muskogee Realtors | Muskogee Restaurants | Muskogee Storage | Muskogee Tax Preparation | Muskogee Travel | Muskogee Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service 
|