Several fake donation bins have been found throughout North Richland Hills. Here’s how to spot the bogus ones.
North Richland Hills has been facing an unexpected issue over the last few months: Fake donation boxes have been popping up outside of businesses across the city. They’re typically placed in high-traffic areas, though it’s unclear who’s setting them up or what their end goal is. A spokesperson for the city, Mary Peters, said, “Really, we don’t know where they came from, who put them there, or what happens to items that are donated.” The current theory is that whoever is setting up the fake boxes is doing so in order to collect the clothing and assorted items to sell for profit. City officials have been working to remove fake bins as soon as they appear, so as of writing, there aren’t any in active use.
However, the latest bin was removed on Tuesday, so it seems like whoever is responsible for this ongoing issue doesn’t have any plans of letting up. “We have found that we can’t trace these back to a particular business, charity or reputable organization. So, we really don’t know who’s behind them,” Peters said. She added that business owners have been equally frustrated as they don’t want the bogus boxes in their parking lots, as they often lead to an abundance of dumping and trash.
Apparently, other cities in the Lone Star State have experienced similar issues in the past, as did areas of New York in 2014. While it’s a relatively harmless, though confusing, issue, residents are still being encouraged to pay attention to where they’re donating their clothes.
How to identify fake bins and where to donate instead
While the city is sorting out the fake donation bin problem, residents are being asked to take their donations directly to local charities to ensure the items end up with people who need them most. “For your donation to benefit the community, we recommend taking it directly to a local nonprofit, rather than leaving it at a random donation box that’s just appeared in a parking lot somewhere,” Mary Peters said. It’s important to note as well that there are genuine donation boxes you can use in the city, so let’s go over some ways to tell which ones are fake and which are the real deal.
Bogus donation bins will only have generic phrases printed on them, such as “clothing needed,” and will not feature an organization’s logo or contact information. They also won’t have a registered charity number (which legitimate ones have), and they’re typically constructed poorly with plywood and other materials. A Facebook post alerting people of the ongoing issue noted that, “If a charity is named, verify through a site such as CharityNavigator.org, CharityWatch.org or Candid.org that the charity actually exists” before you leave your items there. Peters said, “If folks choose not to leave items at these bins, it makes it less appealing for them to continue to bring them to these random locations around town.”
For alternative places to bring your donations to ensure they go to people in need, please consider bringing your gently used items to the Leukemia Texas Resale Center, Second Glance Thrift Shop, or one of the other legitimate places found on this list.
