Tulsa Adult Rehabilitation Center, Salvation Army Tour Donation Processing Center By Dr. Celia...
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Transcript of Tulsa Adult Rehabilitation Center, Salvation Army Tour Donation Processing Center By Dr. Celia...
Tulsa Adult Rehabilitation Center, Salvation Army
Tour Donation Processing CenterBy Dr. Celia Stall-Meadows
OSU-TulsaJan. 5, 2010
What happens to donated textiles?
• All beneficiaries (rehabilitation program workers) are part of the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center (SA-ARC). The 40-hour work week in the processing warehouse is part of the 180-day drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. 80-85 men prepare donated items for resale in Tulsa’s three Salvation Army Stores. The men wear donated clothing, too.
• Sales at these stores are the primary source of income for the SA-ARC and pays for the food, clothing, shelter and supplies for the 80-85 residents.
Donated antiques and other items of value
• The SA-ARC has an “antique lady” who extracts and handles all the valuables, but they are also sold in the stores
• Jewelry and other valuables may be under lock and key or in a restricted area of the stores
Processing• Beneficiaries unload trucks into big blue bins • Female employees are paid an hourly wage for to
sort donated clothing into six price points (2.99, 3.99 9.99). Sorted clothes are tossed into plastic barrels.
• Beneficiaries hang presorted clothing on hangers and hang on roll racks that hold 100 pieces. Each roll rack gets its own price point.
• Beneficiaries staple price on collar of item.• Female employee assigns sorted clothing to one
of the three stores (8-9 roll racks/store per day)
Merchandising in stores
• Each store is stocked with 1,500-2,000 new items everyday
• Blue tag is full price for “new” items during weeks one and two
• After three weeks, it goes to ½ price• After four weeks, it is available at even greater
discounts• Then sent back to processing warehouse for
reconsideration
What happens to items that don’t sell in S.A. stores?
• The items are brought back to the processing warehouse and evaluated. Should it be reprocessed and sent to a different stores? May be sold at the “as is” auction to junk dealers (auction occurs twice weekly for non clothing items—furniture, bric-a-brac, electronics, etc).
• Unsellable apparel is bundled in 1500-1600 lbs bales & sold for 15 cents/lb as “raw” (unsorted) rags to rag dealers from Dallas and K.C. This is called “ragging it out”
What happens to these bales?
• Each bale is valued at approximately $225 (.15 x 1500 lbs)
• Sold to rag dealers• May be shredded and used for stuffing and
padding, such as for caskets, carpet padding• May be transported to a port city and shipped
to textile dealers in foreign countries (an entire study in itself!)
In summary: There is no trash when it comes to clothing and textiles, or any donated items
• Unsalable clothing is baled and sold by the pound
• Comforters and bedspreads are given to the homeless
• Mattresses are cleaned with Steri-Fab (multi purpose) and sealed for a time before reselling
• Furniture is shampooed and vacuumed
• Appliances repaired or sold at “as is auction”