Kamloops thrift stores are so low on donations they're struggling to help the homeless this winter

Staff at clothing thrift stores in Kamloops, B.C., say they don't know how they will be able to provide care packages for vulnerable people in the community this year after seeing a significant drop-off in donations.

Second Chances Thrift Store, which has two locations in the city, donates an average of 800 "kindness kits" filled with warm clothing to charitable organizations in the area every winter. This year, the goal was to distribute 1,000 kits — but so far, there have only been enough donations to make 150.

Bonnie McBride, owner of Second Chances, says donations have dropped after the City of Kamloops set up a textile recycling program in the spring. Residents can now drop off old textiles in nine bins located around the city or arrange free pickups from their home after the city teamed up with Diabetes Canada to divert textile waste from the landfill.

McBride said she understands how convenient the new program is for people, but said often they are tossing items that someone could still get use out of. 

"It's time to rethink how you are plunking everything in a bag and putting it in a bin," said McBride. "As long as the zippers work, if you can do it up, we want it."

McBride said her stores are well stocked with items for sale, but it's the harder-worn clothing that can't be resold that is desperately needed. She estimates those donations have dropped by about 30 per cent.

At the same time, charitable organizations are desperate for kindness kits.

"They are telling us not to be as picky as we've been because they do need the clothing," said McBride. "We'd like to have another set [of kits] go out … and we don't have any clothes to put them together."

The kits sell for $5 in stores before they're distributed to local agencies, with sales profits going to the B.C. SPCA.

According to the City of Kamloops website, each resident, on average, discards about 37 kilograms of textiles every year, which results in about 3.4 million kilograms of waste that could be repurposed.

To hear the complete interview with Bonnie McBride on CBC's Daybreak Kamloops, tap the audio link below: