Sorting

General Introduction

Volunteers working in the sorting area at Fresh Start are a vital part of the behind-the-scenes work. All of the home goods donations received by our donations staff are brought to the sorting area. The soft items, such as bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen linens are deposited into the large bins in the sorting area. Hard items, such as small kitchen appliances, pots and pans, and dish sets are put on the donation shelves in the back of the sorting area. Volunteers working in the sorting area draw from the bins and/or the shelves and, in an organized fashion, process what they find. If you have any questions, always feel free to ask any of your fellow volunteers for help!

Safety is always our primary concern. Please keep the emergency exit doors clear, walkways clear of donations, and do not attempt to lift any item beyond your weight capability. There are always other volunteers in the store that can move that small appliance for you!

Keep in mind that a donor might have given us multiple bags and/or boxes. If you find what seems to be an incomplete set of dishes, sheets, etc., alert the sorting team, and put it aside while the volunteers work through the rest of that donor’s donation.

General Acceptance Guidelines

Fresh Start accepts donations of practical items for our clients which have been gently-used and are in good working condition. We do not accept items which are broken, torn, stained, foul smelling, covered with pet hair, show any evidence of insects or rodents, or are missing parts. We do not have the ability to pre-screen all donations and therefore the donations brought to the sorting area can fall into a wide range of conditions. Disposable gloves are provided for volunteers who wish to wear them.

We only accept seasonal items during the appropriate season due to space limitations. We do not accept items that have religious or political undertones.

Almost all of the donations are given to families in need. However, if a donated item looks like it might be of value, it is set aside with a note on it for our volunteer who researches these items. Value might stem from it being an antique, a desirable item on eBay, or a donation of substantial value (e.g. a brand new KitchenAid Mixer). We do consign or sell some items in order to help pay for some of our operating expenses.

Disposal Guidelines

Important: If a donated item smells poorly or exhibits any signs of insects, etc. it is important to put the item directly in the dumpster. Any of the other disposal options discussed below are not necessarily removed from the store on a daily basis and therefore are not appropriate for a foul item!

That being said, it is our goal both to keep items out of our landfills whenever possible and reduce our garbage disposal costs. For these reasons, we provide a wide variety of recycling or donation alternatives:

Looking to volunteer a bit more? We are always looking for volunteers to drop off the Buddy Dog, Textile Recycling, and Savers donations to their respective locations!

Presentation Guidelines

We want the home goods area of our showroom to be attractive and, in large part, how the items are cleaned and packaged in the sorting area contributes to achieving our desired look. It is always vital for linens and housewares to be clean before being placed in their bins in the sorting area. Clean linens are generally tied in ribbons before being put in their respective bins or shelves in the sorting area and eventually placed out on the showroom floor. It is desirable for like items to be packaged in similar size bundles so they stack neatly on the showroom shelves. Items should be tied snuggly so that the bundle does not fall apart when handled.
Restocking Guidelines

It is our goal to have a well-stocked showroom. Replenishing items on the floor should be done before our opening hours or after the clients are completed for the day. Whenever possible during our shifts, donated items which have been processed should be placed into that item’s applicable bin or shelf space in the sorting area. There will be times, due to low inventory as a result of a hectic day, when items will be needed on the shelves in the showroom during the middle of a shift. This restocking should be done without interfering with the work being done for the clients.
Care of the Sorting Area

We do our best to keep an organized sorting area with bins and shelves to store the majority of items that will be processed on any given day. It is important to understand that the inventory can fluctuate greatly from week to week, so we need to be flexible and creative with our storage solutions.

At the end of each shift, the volunteers should take some time to ensure that the sorting area looks neat and organized for those who will be working the next shift. At shift’s ends, please do the following:

Let’s learn about the specific items we will be sorting; linens, tableware, and housewares, and decorative items.

 

LINENS

We accept:

We DO NOT accept:

 

Bedding

 

Bathroom

Kitchen

Miscellaneous

TABLEWARE

We accept:

We DO NOT accept:

Dish Sets

 

Complete Dish Sets

Incomplete Dish Sets

China

 

Glasses and Mugs

Glasses

Mugs

Silverware

HOUSEWARES

We accept:

We DO NOT accept:

Prepware

Cookware

Bakeware

Kitchen Utensils

Small Appliances

 

Lamps

Plastic storage containers and plastic tableware items

 

DECORATIVE ITEMS

Artwork


Revision #1
Created 8 January 2024 10:46:22 by Geoff Schultz
Updated 8 January 2024 10:51:35 by Geoff Schultz