A ‘hazardous’ donation bin that once sat in utter disarray in front of North Otter Elementary has now been removed.
It was lack of proper pickup for the clothing donation bin that turned a nice Aldergrove neighbourhood into a weekly mess, one local resident told the Aldergrove Star.
“I assume the management of the society doesn’t feel the need to remove this box,” said local homeowner Paul MacDonald, who made numerous attempts to reach the organization, to no avail.
Numerous others – including staff from the Langley School District, had made calls to the Canadian Diabetes Association as early as September to report the overflowing donations in their bin at 54th Avenue and 248th Street.
MacDonald got a call Friday from an employee of the organization, who expressed his apologies and said the bin would be removed by the end of the weekend, MacDonald said.
By Saturday at 6 p.m., the bin was removed and with it piles of ransacked donations that sat outside the bin for weeks.
In lieu of the bin’s removal, the Canadian Diabetes Association will now organize pick-up times for clothing donations in the Otter area.
The unkempt donation bin sat on school property, in front of the North Otter Elementary playground.
“It’s obvious that people have been rummaging through the piles and throwing items from the bin all over,” MacDonald said.
The Otter resident has seen bin items strewn across the road as far up as Fraser Highway, and has witnessed drivers on 248th Street swerve to miss the leftover clothing and donations.
“This has been happening for a while now – the stuff just sits outside when it rains,” MacDonald said.
“It is a real hazard and could cause an accident,” he added.
Langley school district pushed for a complete removal of the bin to ensure student safety on the property, said communications manager Joanne Abshire.
The district “will continue to reach out to the Canadian Diabetes Association to request the donation bin at North Otter Elementary School be removed,” she said.
Members of the school have also attempted to contact the association since the start of the school year, Abshire confirmed.
Though the district “is supportive of charities like the Canadian Diabetes Association,” it is seeking to work with the organization to find a secondary, “appropriate,” location for the bin, she said.
