Donate those old clothes!
get your old clothes and junk picked up from your home
Most of us living in Dubai are fortunate to be able to have wardrobes bursting at the seam with clothes, shoes, and accessories. Our Middle East incomes have provided us the ability to be able to wear the latest fashion trends, replace our furniture, and procure new tvs. But what do we do with all the stuff that we don’t wear or don’t use? It languishes in or store rooms, in plastic bins under our bed, or collecting dust in the garage. Wouldn’t it be better if we could find a new home for all these goods? Our homes–and lives–would be less cluttered and someone else less fortunate than us could make use of it.
Enter “the Surplus Collector“. Faisal Khan, a Canadian national, is behind this initiative and the associated takemyjunkuae.com website. The Surplus Collector team will collect your used clothes, furniture, electronics, books, and almost any other unwanted items. In some areas they will even collect from your homes! Imagine that–you don’t even have to leave your house for this. The goods they collect will then be distributed to labor camps around the emirates.
Moved by the plight of laborers after watching a documentary on tv, Mr Khan took up this initiative. His first collection was meat for the needy during the Islamic Eid Al Adha period when lambs and cows are slaughtered as sacrifice. He took his collection to the camps.
“People are leaving the country and we are really taking advantage of this for a good end,” he said.
“Some days I get as many as 200 calls. They come from French people, Australians and even the British Embassy as well as from Emiratis. My house is filled with stuff and there’s no place for more. I will have to rent a warehouse and move it all there.”(1)
The Surplus Collector also needs volunteers to help with picking up and distributing these goods. If you want your unwanted items collected, you can reach them at +971501794045 or email takemyjunkuae [at] gmail dot com. You may also drop off your “junk” to their warehouse in Al-Jurf, Ajman.
The Surplus Collector is not (yet) a licensed charity, so you may want to keep that in mind or you could of course call them yourselves–or read the testimonials–to get more comfortable.
