A Garage Sale, Some Realizations

Giving, Sharing

I will make an unusual statement: in some countries, it is easier to give.

First, a backgrounder.

In the US, we held some garage sales.  It is easy.  You just gather the things you do not use out of the closet (or the garage), put a price to it, set it up at your garage (or yard, for a yard sale) announce it over the internet or advertise in some local newspaper (for free), show up on the day with some loose change, preferably psyched up to deal with penny pinchers (who want your memorabilia for a song) and wait.  At the end of the day, you will have earned some cash, freed a part of your garage (or closet), and found homes for the stuff you would not miss anyway.

So we held one in the Philippines.  In our case, shelves, panels, tables, shoes, clothes (mountains), old computer monitors, old airconditioning units, and old television sets had to go. It was successful and netted a fairly decent amount for the 3 days we had the goods out there.

Here is the giving part.

Prior to holding the garage sale, I was counting on having the unsold goods picked up by a donee organization, like what Salvation Army or Goodwill do in the United States (it sure beats cleaning up and re-storing the stuff back again, and it feels good too).  But at the time that I was searching, I found no organization who can accommodate my request (we had bulky stuff, hence the pick-up request).  In my search (which was almost desperate – we moved out of an office and did not know where to take the bulky stuff that were unsold), I found out that most organizations preferred cash donations (hence their sites were peppered with bank names and account numbers), ukay-ukays (the local thrift shop) do not do pick ups, and that some organizations can be picky.  Just check out one notice that I found on a website: Though we appreciate your generosity, we  discourage donations of old clothes as we have more than enough to go around.  This stood out because I thought it funny (not funny-haha but funny-huhu) because even the Salvation Army does not say no to old clothes (yep, checked their site).

What came to my mind, then, were the horror stories of generous people from out of the country (or from within the country) encountering all sorts of resistance (most of the time, in the guise of bureaucratic red tape) when they wanted to donate.

True story: one university irked members of a foundation because of its many demands prior to accepting millions of pesos in donations.  When the project could not move any further because of the resistance of the university, the foundation looked for a more receptive donee and found another university that is easier to talk to (this university is far more affluent than the original donee university and did not need the help).

Another true story: a group wanted to donate several computers to increase computer literacy in the country but they were asked to pay a huge amount for taxes and bribes for the computers to be allowed in.  Of course, the group lost their appetites and the heart to give but it is the Filipino children who are again left by the wayside.

I am sure there are other more horrible stories but my wish is that with P-Noy’s rule, all this will change.

That giving will take precedence in this country’s mind and its citizens’ minds and that it will get easier to do it in the wonderful years to come.

Be rich,

Issa

P.S. According to the new website of the Philippine National Red Cross, they can now arrange for donation pick up.   However, Waldorf Manila, the most wonderful school, received much of the loot as they are in the process of furnishing their new campus at Timberland Heights in Quezon City.  As a matter of fact, they are looking for new students.  You can check out their website here.

Article by Issa. Art by Danvic. Copyright 2010.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com

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