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As wildfires continue to burn tens of thousands of acres across Los Angeles County, Santa Anita Park, a racetrack a bit north of the city, has turned into a donation center for the thousands of families that lost everything. But as those donations have poured in, the parking lot has quickly come to resemble a landfill. We are overloaded with clothes and shoes, reads the caption on one Instagram reel showing clothing piled up in giant mounds with little organization.Candice Wong, a resident of Alhambra, a city within L.A. County, had friends who went to volunteer at Santa Anita. They said it was horrible, Wong says; volunteers ended up essentially moving stuff from point A to B around the parking lot, and then back from B to A. It was volunteer work that was almost kind of pointless, because it was so chaotic.Volunteers tasked with sorting through all those donations say they keep finding what amounts to junk: stained shirts, clothing with holes, damaged items. We found some garbage,the actress Kristen Bell said in a video about her own volunteer experience amid the fires. She ended the video with a reminder to would-be donators: Dont send trash.60% of donations simply have no useThis isnt only an L.A. issue. After disasters, a large portion of the donations that come flooding in tend to be, essentially, useless. Jos Holguin-Veras, director of the Center for Infrastructure, Transportation, and the Environment at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has studied disaster response for decades. Based on the data that we have, we have estimated that, typically, about 60% of donations simply have no use, he says.Useless donations in the past have included pork products sent to Muslim communities; winter coats sent to Haiti; expired medications; and wedding gowns and high heels sent to hurricane-ravaged regions. These are items people were likely planning on getting rid of anyway, and when disaster strikes, they see it as an opportunity to give their items away instead of just tossing them in the trash. Its just that people may not need those things. [People donating] believe it is the responsibility of disaster responders to find something useful to do with the donations, Holguin-Veras says.One main motivation for this behavior is what he calls misguided philanthropy. People tend to be distrustful of sending cash; they want to give something more tangible, or see a more immediate impact. They may be well meaning, but they also arent thinking about the utility of their itemslike a winter coat going to Haitior even L.A. Companies also sometimes donate as a form of marketing, or for a tax write-off, even if their items arent totally needed. (After the Joplin tornado in Missouri, Holguin-Veras says a distribution center received boxes and boxes of what volunteers dubbed an undrinkable drink, because it was reportedly so disgusting.)More work for volunteersWhen people send junk or useless items after a disaster, it means donations just sit around taking up space. It also creates logistical challenges: Volunteers are tasked with sorting through endless piles of donations, trashing what needs to be trashed, organizing the rest, finding enough space to store it all, and distributing items to people in need. L.A.s Rose Bowl Stadium has also been filling up with donations since the fires, but the traffic from people dropping off items actually blocked emergency personnel.Already, some groups across Los Angeles have urged people to stop donating physical items after getting an influx.But as the fires make national headlines, organizations across the country have set up their own donation drives, meaning clothes and other items are also being shipped to L.A. The sheer influx of items is part of what made volunteering at Santa Anita so chaotic for Wongs friends. And its why, when Wong began volunteering with Alhambra All Souls Church last week, she set out to be super-specific in her donation asksand very organized. The church turned its location into a free store, with tables topped with items organized by type, and clothing organized by gender and size. Wong herself has made detailed posts on social media every day about what the site needs, with pleas to not make the church a dump for garbage. (Shes also said on multiple posts not to donate clothes; Holguin-Veras says clothing is always the most donated category, and that much of it will never find an owner.)The churchs distribution center is a much smaller scale than Santa Anita Park, so that has made things a bit easier. Volunteers also stop people dropping off donations at the door to ask about their items. (At other sites, donors often just toss their donations on the ground and walk away, or sometimes truckloads of donations show up unannounced.)This approachof turning away donations, or asking for only specific itemscan be tricky, though. Holguin-Veras says disaster groups are often hesitant to speak about the problem of useless donations because they think it may ultimately deter any philanthropy. Some people may prickle at the idea that their donations arent wanted.Wong saw this firsthand, as well: When she told someone that they didnt need any more toothbrush kitsbecause they had just gotten hundreds of donations of full-size toothbrushes and toothpastebut that they would take the razors they were going to give, that person got upset. They [were like], I cant believe a church is being choosy . . . Im going to take it somewhere else thats going to take everything, Wong says. Im not being choosy, I just dont want to hoard.Giving victims dignityand just giving cashBecause the Alhambra All Souls Church is so organized with its donations, it also creates a sense of calm for the victims that come in to pick up items, Wong says. The church also decided, intentionally, not to give people trash bags to put their new items in, but to give out reusable bags. Its a way to acknowledge their pride and dignity.Chaotic donation centers, or those with a plethora of dirty, used items dont create the nicest experience for disaster victims. Its also largely not helpful to those in need. No one needs a soiled T-shirt with holes in it. Theyre not that desperate, Wong says. She encourages people to put themselves in the shoes of disaster victims:If you lost everything, what would you want?The answer may just be cash. And as hesitant as some may be to donate money, it is often the best option, Holguin-Veras says. Since the fires began, hundreds of GoFundMes have been created for families that lost everything. Some individuals and mutual aid groups have been trying to steer people to lists, especially for some of the most impacted populations. As L.A.s Educator Defense Network wrote on Instagram, money doesnt spoil or require storage, and allows responders to make the best decisions. Disaster response groups may also be able to get deals by buying in bulk or using certain subsidies. Cash ensures people can get exactly what they need: Volunteers at the Alhambra All Souls Church were also giving away gift cards, so if they didnt have exactly what a family neededlike diapers in a specific sizethe family could just buy it themselves. Even the Salvation Army of Southern California said it was only accepting financial gifts after the fires, because of the logistical challenges of managing unsolicited donations.Needs also change quickly in the wake of a disaster, meaning some donations might be useful initially, but then run run their course. If an organization says it needs water, and then they quickly get thousands of gallon bottles, water may not continue to be a high-priority need. If people keep donating water instead of cash, those bottles just take up space. Thats also why talking to people directly on the groundlocal officials, mutual aid groups, and others that are tuned into the needs of a communityis a crucial part of disaster response. Consult with the locals, Holguin-Veras says. If an organization has confirmed a willing recipient for an item, then yes, donate thatbut the vast majority of post-disaster donations havent done this, he notes. And by all means, do not donate clothing, he adds. There will be mountains of that.
