Owner surprised to find boxes stacked outside Potong Pasir store, trapping him outside
The owner of a thrift shop in Potong Pasir was surprised to find up to 60 boxes of Christmas decorations stacked outside his store, blocking its entrance.
The overly generous donation was made sometime on Thursday (10 April) afternoon, reported Shin Min Daily News.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
Resident complains of obstruction from boxes outside Potong Pasir store
The incident took place outside St Isidore Centre, a thrift shop located in Block 120 Potong Pasir Avenue 1.
Source: Google Maps
A resident alerted Shin Min to the presence of a large number of boxes piled up in front of the store, completely blocking its entrance and partially blocking the common corridor, causing obstruction to residents.
Photos showed 50 to 60 cardboard boxes of different sizes stacked floor-to-ceiling, obscuring the store’s facade.
While donated items are usually piled up outside the store, this was extreme even for the shop, the source said.
Boxes were full of Christmas decorations, says Potong Pasir store owner
The shop’s owner, 86-year-old Uncle Thomas, said he was surprised to see the boxes when he returned to the shop after a meal at about 4pm on Thursday.
Source: Willing Hearts Orphanage
He was not informed beforehand that the donation would be delivered, and he did not know who sent the items.
When he opened the boxes, he found that they were full of Christmas decorations, which were unsuitable for the overseas orphanages to which he sends items.
Thus, he had to spend about S$100 to have them removed.
Owner was trapped outside his own store for 2 hours
As for the obstruction, Uncle Thomas said his store is open from 10am to 5pm, but some members of the public will donate items outside these hours.
He pointed to a donation drop box where people can place their donations when the store is closed.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
He is unable to be at the shop all the time but will deal with items placed outside the shop as fast as possible, he added.
On Thursday, he was trapped outside the store himself for about two hours due to the mountain of boxes, he said.
He could only enter his own store after the boxes were cleared and did not expect to be criticised for the obstruction.
Many people donate ‘random’ unsuitable items
St Isidore Centre’s sales proceeds go towards running the Willing Hearts Orphanage in the Philippines, as well as orphanages in Batam and Bintan islands in Indonesia.
They also send a Thrift Box every week from Singapore to the orphanages, containing food and pre-loved items donated through the centre.
Source: Willing Hearts Orphanage
These items are sold overseas to help raise money for their operations, helping hundreds of children in the process.
Uncle Thomas, who has been doing charity work for more than 20 years, said he has received various unsuitable items as donations over the years, including unwashed clothes or clothes for the elderly.
A 66-year-old retiree named Richard, who has been donating supplies to the store for a long time, told Shin Min that some people donated “random” items that cannot be used by the orphanages.
While he believes the donors are well-intentioned, “it would be more meaningful” if they could send in items that were useful, he said.
Also read: Items Donated To Orphanages Overseas Reportedly Stolen From Potong Pasir Store, Police Report Made
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
