Alpena’s ReStore experiencing donation dumping

ALPENA, Mich. – One local organization says they’re seeing an increase in donated items, but a lot of the items are unauthorized.

We should all be throwing out our trash properly. That even includes the larger items we plan to donate.

It’s sad that someone would look at this as a place to dump their garbage,” said Restore Manager Les Ellerhorst.

Alpena’s Habitat for Humanity’s Restore is seeing a growing problem.

“They dumped off some pretty useless merchandise,” said Ellerhorst.

Items like a ratty mattress left on their property Monday that the organization cannot resell or even repurpose.

Which in turn, hurts the organization. The costs to empty their dumpster adds up over time.

Affecting the work they could be doing for the community.

“Any money we throw in the dumpster is money lost,” said Ellerhorst. “We are the fundraiser, we are the cash flow for the local area for critical home repairs for Veterans and seniors.”

Restore is asking the community to treat all local donation sites with respect and follow the rules.

“We don’t take clothing, bedding, sofa sleepers, hot water heaters, and dishwashers, but pretty much everything else we will take, ”said Ellerhorst.

This way Restore can continue to service the community.

“We want to help our customers by giving them a value,” said Ellerhorst. “Something useable at a reasonable price.”

Ellerhorst said security cameras captured the mattress being dumped on the property this week.

They are asking that people please drop off their items during normal business hours.