It’s time to responsibly control the spread of donation boxes

Across the nation and through- out the Mahoning Valley, donation bins for nonprofit charities are on a growth spurt. As with any proliferating enterprise, some community leaders are rightly concerned about uncontrolled growth and spotty oversight of the large brightly colored metal boxes along roadways and outside of businesses throughout our region.

One such leader is Girard Mayor Jim Melfi, who expressed his understandable concerns earlier this month about unsightly conditions at or near several improperly managed boxes in his fair city. Girard City Council is now considering a law to rein them in to prevent blight, safety hazards and public- health problems.

Girard certainly is not alone. In recent months, Austintown, Youngstown, Warren and other communities in the Mahoning Valley have enacted such regulations. Other townships, cities and villages in the Valley should follow their lead.

In Girard, where a priority has been placed on clearing and beautifying the Route 422 corridor that spans the Vallourec Star production complex, Mayor Melfi expresses justifiable distress over the impact such unkempt donation containers have on the city’s image and aesthetics.

In Youngstown, City Councilman John Swierz, D-7th Ward, has said some unscrupulous individuals “just go in the middle of the night and drop them [collection boxes] down.” City Police Chief Robin Lees has said it’s not unusual for criminals to use the bins as convenient hideouts for drugs or weapons.

Those and other problems tied to the collection bins necessitate their regulation. Youngstown council unanimously adopted its rules June 7. Warren has had a similar model ordinance on the books for months now.

The premise of that city’s law is to prevent boxes from becoming nuisances. It requires licensing by the nonprofit organization operating it, regular collection and cleanup of its contents, accountability by business owners who collect fees for allowing it on their property, rules to prevent bins from causing hazards to traffic and pedestrians and guidelines to shield them from becoming “offensive to the senses.”

A HEALTHY BALANCE

Such local laws provide a healthy balance to provide adequate protections to the community without hurting the generally charitable mission of the containers’ nonprofit owners. Laws in such communities as North Royalton in suburban Cleveland, however, go too far in banning such boxes. Such blanket prohibitions likely would not withstand legal challenges.

After all, nonprofits have a right to solicit contributions. Many direct their donations to productive and humanitarian uses, and most offer potential donors great convenience with neighborhood drop-off spots.

One of the largest such nonprofits that specializes in bin-collection sites is Planet Aid, which operates in 21 states and has more than 2,000 bright-yellow boxes in Northeast Ohio, including dozens in the Mahoning Valley. Planet Aid collects and sells donated clothing and shoes to support sustainable development in impoverished communities around the world

Yet the actual performance of Planet Aid has earned it an F grade from The American Institute of Philanthropy and a warning from the watchdog group Charity Watch. By CW’s accounting, Planet Aid spends less than one-third of its take from the sale of clothing on programs for charitable purposes. Planet Aid aggressively challenges such claims.

All of which means that government regulation can only go so far. Donors must do their own due diligence to determine whether any donation-box operator deserves their support. Or they could choose to take their business to such upstanding local charities as Goodwill Industries, Salvation Army and others. Many have easily accessible drop-off centers that forgo the need for boxes altogether. They also guarantee donated goods will be given out locally and benefit local causes.

But those who enjoy the convenience of neighborhood drop-off boxes should not be denied. That’s why it’s up to local governments to ensure those clear rights for donors are matched with rigid responsibilities for charities.