Litterers leave trash instead of donations at Salvation Army

The Salvation Army welcomes donations -- not trash.

The area of the trash container and side doors for the New Bern store on Queen Street has been littered with old broken furniture, rusted exercise equipment and general garbage, according to Nancy Fisher, the Salvation Army district operations manager.

"They are dumping trash, things that are not useable," she said. "When the store is closed, they dump it around our dumpster and around our door."

She said the dumping has been a problem in the past, but it increases during the holiday season.

"It gets worse, because people start cleaning out and getting ready for the holidays," she said.

She said the dumping causes a number of problems, not the least of which is the Salvation Army has to use money and manpower to clean it up and have it hauled away.

"We pay to dump our trash just like everybody else does and what happens it also forces my staff to take more time to go through it and get rid of it," Fisher said.

It also creates an unsightly mess for legitimate donors wanting to take useable items to the store.

"And when we have to take time to deal with someone else's garbage, it's a real irritant and a real problem," she said.

She said police patrols keep an eye on the area, but unless illegal dumpers are caught in the act, there is no real recourse.

"We are just making an appeal," she said. "Please do not dump here. I don't know if people just don't stop and think-or if they just don't stop and think. If it's not useable, it's not doing any good."

The Salvation Army urges legitimate donors not to leave useable items outside the doors after hours. Those, Fisher said, are often stolen.