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17 Sep 01 - overflowing donations; composting a tribute ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- Excerpted from an article by Jim Dwyer in the 9/16/01 New York Times: DONATED GOODS IN NEW YORK - TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING For the millions of people who are sending food, clothing and supplies to New York City's relief effort, officials have one message: No more, thanks. Not now. So much food has been donated that some is being dumped, uneaten. New clothing is filling warehouses as far as 90 miles away, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Huge piles of bottled water are stacked along 14th Street. Tons of dog food have arrived for the animals helping in the search. Volunteers are being told that for now, there's not much they can do. "I wish people would back off and pace themselves, because there's going to be work to do for months," Ken Curtin of the American Red Cross said. "Clearly, there are now more donated materials on hand than will ever be used." In Hillside, N.J., where the Community Food Bank of New Jersey is helping with storage, 15 trucks arrived yesterday, following 25 that arrived on Friday. Each one was packed directly to the floors, without pallets, meaning that forklifts could not be used. Every bag or box had to be unloaded by hand, said Cathy McCann, the vice president for operations of the food bank. "People are feeling helpless, they want to make food, they want to feed it right to the rescue workers," Ms. McCann said. "With all this generosity, though, we're almost creating a mini-disaster." Callers to the New York State hotline for donations - (800) 801-8092 - can speak to an operator about making cash donations, but only after they listen to a tape-recorded message that says, "At this time emergency response needs for goods and services have been met." Joe M. Allbaugh, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, also said there was a good supply of food and clothing on hand. "I don't think we need any," he said. The only big-ticket need mentioned by any official was warehouse space. The Salvation Army has 500,000 square feet of space and needs another 500,000, to go along with the airplane hangar it is also using, said Maj. Stephen Langford, who is based at the Army's 14th Street building. The organization - which is providing close to 100,000 meals a day, with help from Whitson Foods - took extraordinary steps to make space on 14th Street, where food is piled along two sweeping staircases and spills halfway across the sidewalk. At noon yesterday, a brigade of volunteers formed and passed black plastic trash sacks to a city sanitation worker, Gil Santos, who tossed them into the back of his garbage truck. Many of them appeared to be filled with used clothing or loose bottles of water and packaged goods. "They told us to come down here because they're trying to get rid of the older inventory of donated goods - it's just coming in so fast, they can't keep up," Mr. Santos said. Most of the donations have been of high quality, according to Mr. Curtin of the Red Cross, a veteran of relief efforts. "Often the second disaster is the help you get - tractor-trailers of used clothing that no one wants," he said. "Not this time." In fact, New York's cup is running over. From every state in the union, and from just about every continent, donated goods and volunteers have been rolling into the city, out of the goodness of millions of hearts. One company sent 17,000 new T- shirts. Wal-Mart Stores dispatched a tractor-trailer full of goods. Levi Strauss and the Gap have sent clothing. From Kroger supermarkets in Ohio came two tractor-trailers of water. With no warning - not a happy surprise, said officials - 25 tractor-trailers arrived from Philadelphia. Other trucks have been filled by churches, schools and radio stations. Many of these efforts were launched after announcements in midweek that some commodities were needed; underwear, for instance, or work gloves, both of which are now in ample supply. While these gifts present logistical problems, they are a balm to a city aching with loss, and also to people who make the offerings. That goes, as well, for the volunteers. "It's the hallmark of this whole event," Mr. Curtin said. "People would just like to get their hands on the rubble and do something." ----------------- Excerpted from e-mails from Pat Kaufman and Kym Allen, Seattle Center, Seattle, WA; a Seattle Center press release; and the Seattle Center website: Seattle Center, located near downtown Seattle, was the site of the 1962 World's Fair. It is now a 74-acre complex, with performance halls, arenas, museums, a stadium, the Space Needle and other attractions. At the center of the grounds is the landmark International Fountain. Over the past few days, local residents have been invited to bring flowers to the International Fountain, as a memorial to those who died in last week's terrorist attacks. Services have also been held there. The response has been incredible. It is estimated that 900,000 flowers are currently piled up at the fountain, placed there by about 75,000 people. It has been decided that a team of volunteers will separate the organic material from the cards, plastic wrappings and other non-organic matter in the display. The cards will be sent to New York City and Washington D.C., and some will be preserved for a memorial. The organic material will be composted at a nearby community garden by volunteers, and will be used to plant a memorial tree and garden at Seattle Center, near the fountain, in honor of the victims of the tragedy. The tree and part of the garden will be planted at a memorial event to be held on Sept. 11, 2002. Any Seattle area residents who would like to help separate the flowers and greenery for composting can meet at the fountain tomorrow (Tuesday), Sept. 18, at 10 a.m. - end -