Assignment: Thoughtless Acts

Collaborators:

For years, People’s Park has had a large wooden collection bin for used clothes. Residents, charities, or anyone with spare clothing could leave it there for a homeless person to find and take with them. Several years ago, this collection bin was taken down by the city on the grounds that it was a health hazard. I’m not familiar with the details of the story or whether the city was correct in its actions, but when I walked through People’s Park this afternoon I noticed that people were still leaving clothes where the collection bin used to be. There weren’t as many as before, but I think it’s fascinating that people still, years later, leave clothes there for the homeless.

Since the current situation is an adaptation to the removal of the original clothing bin, it would seem that the solution to people having to leave clothes on the ground would be to have a similar collection bin as before, but perhaps one that’s regulated and kept safe. It could even be located very close to People’s Park and managed by a local charity or church. This way, the residents of People’s Park and passersby could make use of the service safely.