Saw this on NBC17. It's sad to hear, however, perhaps the ministry has gotten to diversified. Is it a "clothing closet" or a library? It is wonderful to have a vision for two much needed services in the community. Yet, the business plan just doesn't work for the space and amount of volunteers available. http://johnston.mync.com/site/Johnston/news/story/56503/chairty-shuts-down-clothing-closet-until-it-can-get-help-sorting-tons-of-do/
Somebody should have stopped the donations before it got to this point!! I mean just say NO MORE donations at this time. More is not always the answer!! JMHO Pat
I know I'm gonna get flamed for this so let me just say that I already have on my flame retardant suit . . . He would probably have more volunteers if he didn't talk to them in the harsh, bossy manner that he does. I've seen it first hand so I know what I'm talking about. In fact, the last time I was in there shopping he was so rude to one guy that I decided that would be my last visit to his store. Secondly, the clothes have all been moved to a storage area next door to his place and they are all crammed in boxes that are piled ceiling high. I can't blame anyone for not wanting to dig through that mess. I agree that maybe he should let folks just go in and rummage through the piles and take what they want. Ok, go ahead and flame away . . .I'm ready.
I took a peak into the basement of THE SALVATION ARMY in Garner. You can't believe the stuff was piled to the ceiling..
I have volunteered there and think that Ron is really fantastic to work for. My husband and daughter thought so too. In fact, I've never heard anyone complain about his management style. Ron is a really sweet guy and it only takes about 10 minutes of being in his company to know that the man has a heart of gold. He does get some "volunteers" from the high schools where kids have to work community service hours. He does have to be more strict with those kids, because they will ignore him, wander off, sit and do nothing, etc. I've seen several of them push him pretty far and really test his patience. Ron will be strict with them, but is never mean (ie. condescending, verbally abusive, insulting, etc.). I have actually beenh very impressed with the way he handles some pretty obstinate and rude teenagers. I'm sure Ron wouldn't choose to work with people who don't want to be there, but he's trying very hard to do great things for our community, and will take any volunteers that he can get. So please, before you say something bad about someone, how about volunteering for a few hours? You can always leave if you decide that it's not for you. But going onto a public forum and pretty much encouraging people NOT to volunteer is an awful thing to do. Ron is trying to help our community and puts in a ton of his own time and money. Without him, it would be much harder for people to get food and basic need items. I volunteer with a handful of charities and Ron is one of my favorite people. He is so incredibly appreciative of every single person that volunteers. He will take the time to talk with you and get to know you, and thank you. You will leave there feeling like you really helped to make a difference. Several of the other places I volunteer are not that way. You get there, they give you your assignment, and then have you sign out before you leave. No personalization at all. Which is fine, but it really gives perspective when working with someone like Ron who goes out his way to make sure that you're getting the most out of our volunteering experience. This can mean a lot to someone who can't stand for long periods of time or doesn't want to do the same thing for eight hours in a row. He'll work hard to make sure you're doing something that makes you comfortable and that fits you.
That's EXACTLY why I switched to Goodwill in Clayton. And now Goodwill's coming to Cleveland. Yippee!!
Oh, and most clothing donation centers, such as Goodwill, get so many clothing donations that they sell them by the pound to companies that ship them overseas to sell. This is pretty much how most of Africa gets clothing, since their textile industry collapsed over a decade ago and is slow in rebuilding. So it's not unusual for there to be a large backlog of clothing. The problem at Basic Needs is that they have a great backlog and nothing on the racks.
I knew I would get flamed and that's ok. It's just my opinion and that and 50 cents will get you a cup of coffee. Maybe I saw him on a bad day (and by the way, it was an adult that he was speaking to, not a teen).
Not for nuttin', but adults do get assigned community service too. DH and I have known 2 adults in the last 6 mo. that got community service as part of their DUI sentences. One worked at the Salvation Army in Garner, and the other raked leaves and pine straw at Clemmons Forest.
Very true but I don't think this was the case in the incident I witnessed. The person did nothing to be spoken to in the manner that he was approached.
No flaming here. However I did just meet him a couple weeks ago. My first impression is he is loud and very straightforward, you may perceive his tone of voice as being rude so I can see where you would assume that. (kind of talks very intelligently too...kinda over my head sometimes 8)) I don't think he is trying to be rude at all, after all for doing all the hard work he is doing for nothing he has to have a heart of gold on the inside and a wonderful person. See no flaming just a different perspective.
I meet him a couple of times and I have to admit he was a funny but straightforward loud guy! I think the world can use a few more of him!
320 churches, schools, and agencies and most don't support. Issue 1. Basic Needs must have a lot of clothing, since so many of you are giving it away so very fast. Staff and volunteers at 320 churches, schools, and agencies have more than 30,000 of our gift certificates to hand out and have been asking for more almost every week this year. They/you control how many people are sent to us for free clothing and how many SETS of clothing we are authorized to give out. We not only serve Cleveland, but residents in need in all of Garner, Fuquay-Varina, Angier, and Johnston County. The certificates do not expire until December 31, 2010. During the floods in Clyde, North Carolina, Basic Needs clothing was the first on the scene and was handpicked for the flooded residents. It was ordered by, driven by, and distributed by members of the State Employee's Association of North Carolina, who live and serve in the Clyde area. District 47 helped start this project and has supported it since 2003. In 2008, Basic Needs with the help of RTP company NetApp sent two truck loads of clothing in one weekend via the Methodist Conference project M.E.R.C.I. in Goldsboro to the orphans in Haiti and the 400,000 identified as homeless due to war and earthquakae in Armenia. This was shipped overseas by the U.S. Department of State as Humanitarian Aid. With the increasing rent, we could no longer use 25-50% of our space to store their clothes for a year or two. When we couldn't get volunteers from the Methodist Conference churches to help sort, pack, or take to Goldsboro, we dropped this part of our work and used IBM racks to increase our housewares area. Basic Needs provided clothing to local churches to assist with their projects to care for folks needing clothing, whether in job barren ex-textile centers in South Carolina or Farm Worker Ministries. Basic Needs spent $170,000+ to offer the community a clothing closet, but gets absolutely no financial support from most of the 320 churches, schools, and organizations, which send people for clothing, despite the millions of dollars in value given away and the tens of thousands of hours of work. Issue 2. Basic Needs, like every charity, must have a lot of clothing, because more than 70% of the donations are dirty, stained, torn, worn, or missing buttons. To fill our clothing display racks one time, we have to commit someone to sort through more than 94,000 clothing items to find 28,000 clean ones. The I.R.S. revised the donor rules in an effort to block tax deductions for any clothing not clean and usable (like new). Issue 3. Basic Needs, like every charity, receives donations around the clock and in all weather. At the end of the day, our volunteers try to clean up the driveway, even though we have worked as long as 16 hours past closing on Saturdays to get it open for others to drive through and even missed church on Sunday morning. Issue 4. Basic Needs cut its clothing displays because it didn't have enough customers to justify its initial displays with 50' of slacks and 50' of blouses (2,000+ blouses) utilizing 2,000 sq. ft. Ask any good soft goods retail store manager. Issue 5. Basic Needs made an arrangement months ago with Peddler's Village management to use additional storage space to house stacks of books (usually about 60-80,000) for the Cleveland Library, not clothing. Occasionally we had to secure some goods from bad weather or thieves, before leaving at night and stuck them just inside any door that had room. We switched from our 40' container to a 28' trailer to store clothing on property, when we have no volunteers to handle them or when they are low quality. If we allow all donations inside, when they are delivered, we allow a major safety problem in the aisles. Issue 6. Fewer than 12% of Cleveland residents were predicted by the experts to use the clothing closet or food pantry, but more than 40% are predicted to use a library – 22% are children and we now have another high school offering two grades and a row of schools through 210. Issue 7. Cleveland Township has the largest private (not taxpayer funded and not in an incorporated area) library collection in North Carolina. Its residents do homework at the Cleveland Library, apply for work, fill out college and grant applications in the computer lab and on our Wi-Fi in the parking lot. They borrow books for school and personal reading. The library has more than 100,000 books and movies on property. In the past two weeks, the library received 90' of double side book display cases from Barnes and Noble, just after we borrowed and paid for more than $3,000 of pine boards and plywood to build 50 bookcases. The B&N bookcases are stuffed. As soon as the 50 bookcases are done, they will be stuffed. Our 40’ container, when finished, will be stuffed and available as a bookmobile. Issue 8. Cleveland Township did not offer any of these services worth millions every year-including prescription drug discounts, until Basic Needs took on the challenge.
No flames from me. I am dealing with the loss of a job after 21 years, a project with 100% floor coverage, a short notice major redesign of our space, a building project 18 months overdue and underfunded, 20-hour work days for most of 7 years, too much paperwork, costs being doubled to meet county codes, and the lack of donations and volunteers. I might be stressed out. This is the movement plan we used for the clothing during the last month. It was believed necessary due to our lack of space and lack of volunteers. 1. The clothing was slightly shifted to the right side in the lower bay, on its racks, where it has been since 2003, so we could separate, relocate, and add safety braces to the redesigned wooden bookcases built during the past 2 years. 2. Then all the clothing was moved back to the left side, either on racks or the tables, so we could get the 90' of back-to-back Barnes and Noble bookcases in (about $27,000). We had only a few days to get them before they were to go to the landfill. 3. Then the clothes and racks were separated and moved to another area for about 72 hours, so we could move books to the new bookcases. 4. Then the clothes with additional new donations were moved to yet another area, safely out of the walkways, until we could get them rehung. I did tell the volunteers to put a layer of plastic totes across the floor to keep the clothing clean. New donations are also being put directly on the racks as fast as we can get community volunteers. Volunteers recently moved clothing in various containers, but we do not now have clothing stacks and have not had stacks of clothing in boxes since the shipments to Haiti and Armenia left in 2008. They were required to be boxed. When we started unloading the books, we had boxes stacked higher than the building, until they could be broken down and put in the proper cardboard recycling containers. We will have stacks of empty book boxes again in the next week or two for recycling. We have many openings listed on VolunteerMatch
