On Monday, several charities were working to move their donation boxes away from a parking lot on the property of Lowe’s on West 133rd Street.
Last week, trespassing notices were placed on all of the donation boxes.
Lowe's staff members said all but one of the charities with boxes in the store's parking lot did not have permission to be there. They also said several of the boxes had trash and bags overflowing from them. Staff members had to take it upon themselves to clean up the area around the donation boxes.
The charities were given ten days from Dec. 9 to move their boxes or they would be towed at the charities' expense.
Lowe's sent 41 Action News a statement on the donation boxes. It reads in part:
"It’s an unfortunate situation for all involved. We were faced with a growing number of organizations dropping off donation bins without getting permission. In addition, unwanted items that were not in reusable condition were left outside of the bins in inclement weather, causing a maintenance problem.
Lowe’s supports charitable organizations through the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation and last year contributed more than $28 million nationwide."
Big Brothers Big Sisters CEO Micheal Lawrence said his charity was given permission to put the donation box in the parking lot.
He said Big Brothers Big Sisters has around 80 donation boxes around the Kansas City metro area, and the charity uses new technology that can alert staff when donation boxes get full.
“Through our bin placement and our other efforts, we collect 8 million pounds (of donations) in the KC market annually,” Lawrence said.
The cleanliness of donation boxes has been an issue in some metro areas.
In Lee’s Summit, an ordinance was put in place last year limiting one donation box to a property. Residents asked for the ordinance in response to dirty donation areas.
By late Monday morning, three charity boxes remained in the Lowe’s parking lot.
The trespassing notice from Lowe's states the store's property is for staff, customers and authorized vendors only.
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Tom Dempsey can be reached at tom.dempsey@kshb.com.
