Though many may say it's better to give than to receive, some businesses don't seem agree.
For-profit organizations are using the widely-accepted non-profit method of collecting donations in order to make money for themselves.
Several boxes spotted in Alameda, San Leandro and Castro Valley appear to be for non-profit charities but instead resell donated merchandise, sometimes even in other countries, for a profit.
KRON's Stanley Roberts recently reported that some of the boxes get bolted down at businesses — where they can remain anywhere from months to years — without the owners' permission.
A bin on the side of Auto Repair Center located at 20487 Castro Valley Blvd. has been there for the past three years according to the owner. He told Roberts he wants it gone.
However, other organizations pay businesses like the 76 Test Only Station on Lake Chabot Road to keep a donation box on their lot. 76 Test Only employee Emran Hassan said the box belonging to Hayward's Full Gospel Mission Ministries has sat at the 20745 Lake Chabot Rd. location for about seven months now. Hassan said Mission Ministries pays the owner a monthly fee to keep its box in their parking lot.
Patch called Mission Ministries to see if donations were resold at the organization's thrift store, but only received automated recordings.
A few feet away from it sits a different donation box belonging to the non-profit organization Campus California. On its website, the organization claims to collect and sell donated items to raise money for sustainablility projects and to work toward the state's solid waste reduction goals.
Where else have you spotted these boxes in your neighborhood? After reading the fine print, do you find that they are mostly for non-profit or for-profit organizations? How do you feel about these companies reselling your donated goods for profit, sometime even to other countries? Tell us in the comments section below.
