Messy donations drop-off leaves woman 'heartbroken'

Emily McCoy took one look at the mess and her heart sank.

"It actually broke my heart," said McCoy. "This stuff is supposed to be donated to help people and now all this stuff is ruined because it's been rained on and who knows what else has happened since it's been there."

McCoy said she saw garbage and glass mixed with apparent donations at two Diabetes Canada Donation boxes at a parking lot on Hamilton Road.

"It's just horrible to think about it and see," said McCoy, who took a photo of the mess on Monday. 

She has questions surrounding the company that operates the donation boxes.

"If they put the bins there they should be checking them as frequently as they can," said McCoy. 

Daily pick-up

"I think this is a case of bad timing," said Simon Langer, manager of government and strategic partnerships with Diabetes Canada.

Langer said these donation bins — two of more than 4,000 across Canada — are serviced daily. 

"Maybe an hour or two later unfortunately someone might have come and done this fairly large dump, which is really unfortunate," said Langer. 

He said that it's not only an eyesore — it can also be a costly clean-up.

"It doesn't look too appealing," said Langer. "When certain individuals within our communities decide to leave clutter around our bins in such a way, it does cost us money. In some cases there could be tipping fees within a municipality and that takes away from our revenue stream."

Donations that are collected are sold through a partnership with Value Village. They raise more than $10 million for Diabetes Canada. 

Langer said he wasn't sure if the items donated at the two boxes would be collected for the purpose of selling. 

"We kindly ask that out of respect for our community and respect to our charity — please do call our home pick-up service," he said. 

The charity offers free pick-up services on their website or by making an appointment over the phone at 1-800-505-5525.