Trash-removal costs for donation bin mean less money for organizations in need
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (WISH) — Money that could be going to Special Olympics Indiana is instead being spent cleaning up trash around donation bins.
Special Olympics Indiana donation bins across central Indiana are there for clothes and shoes only, but people have been treating them like trash bins and leaving things that don’t help the organization raise money.
Each year, the bins which are managed by Ohio Mills, raise tens of thousands of dollars for Special Olympics Indiana. But the number of donations drop as piles of trash get higher.
Ohio Mills says the company ends up spending an estimated $30-40,000 a year, just hauling away trash from their bins across the country to landfills when that money could be going elsewhere.
“It’s just people being inconsiderate of other people,” Danville resident Dennis Oberkrom said. “What could be a good thing has turned into a bad thing now. It looks like a trash dump in front of a real nice business area. It’s sad.”
Ohio Mills says this has, unfortunately, become a common sight across the United States in the last decade that just can’t be policed.
Danville police echo the sentiment saying they don’t get any reports about the trash, even though the dumping is illegal, and officers can’t watch one bin all day. Police say every month or so, someone will inevitably drop off a big load of junk at a donation bin, but days later it will be cleaned up so they don’t worry too much about it.
But if things go unchecked, like the bins in Danville near Kroger, it becomes a problem. Danville town officials told News 8 that everything around those specific bins on Wednesday breaks three town ordinances including building nuisance, environmental nuisance and a failure to maintain premises.
“What a waste,” Danville resident Jana Kelley said. “It’s ruined, it’s rained, why would you have something out here like that?”
It’s not a crime that seems like it has a big impact, but after it takes money away from those in need and creates issues for the town, residents say it’s time to stop being lazy.
“People are going to continue to do it because they don’t care,” Oberkrom said. “It’s that simple. It’s the society we live in today. Take advantage of anybody you can.”
If you see a bin starting to become a problem, Ohio Mills says to contact them, so they can get a crew out there to pick things up right away. Their number is on the bin itself. They also said they will remove a bin if it becomes a problem, but they’d rather not have to do that.