Donation Nation turns pre-loved items into over $100K for charities

Ten local charities received financial contributions totaling just over $100 000 from the Future Centre Trust on Wednesday, thanks to proceeds generated by Donation Nation—a charity shop that transforms gently used goods into vital support for charitable causes.

The handover ceremony was part of the Trust’s bi-annual fund distribution, which also supports environmental initiatives.

During the event, Director and Founder of Donation Nation, Claire Worme expressed gratitude to Barbadians for their ongoing support in donating and purchasing pre-loved items.

“Donation Nation charity shop was started in 2020, we were hoping to get a few donations and we have grown exponentially. What we do is that we receive donations that can be resold. In other words, it has to be clean—no chips, no cracks, no holes, no pet hair, all of those things. If you would buy it, we would take it. Please, when you are donating keep that in mind that we do resell it and it has to be gently used and gently loved,” Worme said.

She stressed the direct impact of each purchase: “A third of what you spend you are giving to a charity, so you as a customer who is buying is also helping the charity, so everybody is helping each other.”

Chairperson of the Future Centre Trust, Kammie Holder, highlighted the environmental benefits of Donation Nation’s efforts.

“We cannot have [these donations] if the public does not give. This is dependent upon the generosity of the public at large, and what you are doing when you donate to the Future Centre Trust is that you are diverting our waste from the landfill. Barbados as a small island developing state has limited land space available to us; so, therefore, we must promote this sort of initiative. It’s one of the best kept secrets.”

The 10 charities which received donations were the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Barbados, Jabez House, Cancer Support Services, Living Water Community, Purpose 180 Foundation, Because of Jenna Trust, RSPCA, The Barbados Care Circle, Coral Reef Restoration Alliance, and Zander Venezia Trust.

(SB)