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The staff and volunteers at Heartwood House can understand the forest of umbrellas, the boxes full of sunglasses and the endless stream of mitts and gloves that are left on OC Transpo buses and trains every year.
But one item that turns up at the lost-and-found that baffles them: The baby strollers.
Who remembers to take the child but forgets the buggy?
“We’ve never found one with a baby in it,” said Chris Girard, one of the volunteers scrambling to handle the more than 400 people who turned up to buy unclaimed items on Saturday.
Heartwood House, an umbrella organization for 20 small local charities and non-profits, handles the lost-and-found service for OC Transpo, reuniting owners with their backpacks, wallets, bike helmets and skateboards.
Twice a year, the items that go unclaimed are sold off. On Saturday, the crowd lined up outside the charity’s McArthur Road office and snaked down a side street, waiting for a chance to scoop up at deep discounts those things we leave behind.
Inside, spread out on tables in four rooms, were the flotsam and jetsam of human forgetfulness:
An entire room at the sale was dedicated to scarves, hats and gloves. Three tables were filled with sunglasses. A pair of Ray-Bans went early for $2.
But the item most commonly forgotten on the buses was the fastest seller Saturday: Immediately after the doors opened, a small and somewhat frantic mob encircled the umbrella table. After an hour, every brolly had been sold.
Yusuf Hamisi picked up an armload of umbrellas for $10. He wanted one for each of his family members, with a few back-ups, too. Another buyer said he was certain he’d purchased the same umbrella he’d previously lost.
“We basically tell them they are renting it for two dollars,” said volunteer Katherine Vermeulen, who was working her eighth sale. “You go back on the bus and lose it again.”
Valuable items such as laptop computers, digital cameras and, for the first time, smart phones were sold off through a silent auction.
Heartwood House is careful to purge any personal information from the electronics it auctions. A tech-savvy volunteer comes in to purge data from the cellphones, MP3 players and the dozens of USB flash drives that were forgotten on OC Transpo routes.
Maureen Moloughney, Heartwood House’s executive director, worked the door to control intake of customers.
“People love it,” she said. “You come and buy Nike shoes for $5.”
The popularity of sale has grown since it began 2002, she says. Now, Heartwood raises about $4,000 from the sale of about 3,000 items. Unsold items are donated to the Canadian Diabetes Association.
Through its partnership with OC Transpo, Heartwood House handles about 30,000 lost items every year. On an average day, eight to 12 cellphones will turn up and about the same number of wallets.
Flutes and other musical instruments left behind by students are usually the most valuable lost items and have the highest recovery rates, with about 95 per cent reunited with their owners, Moloughney said.
About 70 per cent of cellphones are eventually picked up, and only 60 per cent of lost wallets are reclaimed.
Books were once a frequently discarded item, Moloughney said, but no longer. She pointed to a nearly empty bookcase with a few sad paperbacks. In the next room, buyers were bidding on the e-readers being auctioned off.
And the weirdest item that’s turned up at the lost-and-found?
Moloughney grimaced at the thought.
“Dentures” she said.
Buyers look over goods left on Transpo buses.
Hundreds line up for the door opening at the annual Heartwood sale of goods left on Transpo vehicles.
Yusuf Hamisi picked up an armload of umbrellas for $10. He wanted one for each of his family members, with a few back-ups.
Despite the clouds outdoors, sunglasses were a popular item at the sale of items left on OC Transpo vehicles.
Score! Columbo Collector’s Edition for $3.
Shoppers with some of the items left on OC Transpo vehicles last year.
查看原文...
But one item that turns up at the lost-and-found that baffles them: The baby strollers.
Who remembers to take the child but forgets the buggy?
“We’ve never found one with a baby in it,” said Chris Girard, one of the volunteers scrambling to handle the more than 400 people who turned up to buy unclaimed items on Saturday.
Heartwood House, an umbrella organization for 20 small local charities and non-profits, handles the lost-and-found service for OC Transpo, reuniting owners with their backpacks, wallets, bike helmets and skateboards.
Twice a year, the items that go unclaimed are sold off. On Saturday, the crowd lined up outside the charity’s McArthur Road office and snaked down a side street, waiting for a chance to scoop up at deep discounts those things we leave behind.
Inside, spread out on tables in four rooms, were the flotsam and jetsam of human forgetfulness:
- Three packs of Nespresso capsules.
- A wasp trap.
- A packet of pulled-pork seasoning.
- A VHS version of an old Columbo episode.
- A Ben Hogan 3-wood.
- Two framed etchings credited to some guy named Rembrandt.
- A blood pressure monitor.
- A fleece House of Commons security service jacket.
- And, weirdly, next to a couple of strollers, a pile of walking canes that were likely forgotten or — one might hope — discarded by owners relieved of infirmities through the miraculous healing power of the 95 Trim.
An entire room at the sale was dedicated to scarves, hats and gloves. Three tables were filled with sunglasses. A pair of Ray-Bans went early for $2.
But the item most commonly forgotten on the buses was the fastest seller Saturday: Immediately after the doors opened, a small and somewhat frantic mob encircled the umbrella table. After an hour, every brolly had been sold.
Yusuf Hamisi picked up an armload of umbrellas for $10. He wanted one for each of his family members, with a few back-ups, too. Another buyer said he was certain he’d purchased the same umbrella he’d previously lost.
“We basically tell them they are renting it for two dollars,” said volunteer Katherine Vermeulen, who was working her eighth sale. “You go back on the bus and lose it again.”
Valuable items such as laptop computers, digital cameras and, for the first time, smart phones were sold off through a silent auction.
Heartwood House is careful to purge any personal information from the electronics it auctions. A tech-savvy volunteer comes in to purge data from the cellphones, MP3 players and the dozens of USB flash drives that were forgotten on OC Transpo routes.
Maureen Moloughney, Heartwood House’s executive director, worked the door to control intake of customers.
“People love it,” she said. “You come and buy Nike shoes for $5.”
The popularity of sale has grown since it began 2002, she says. Now, Heartwood raises about $4,000 from the sale of about 3,000 items. Unsold items are donated to the Canadian Diabetes Association.
Through its partnership with OC Transpo, Heartwood House handles about 30,000 lost items every year. On an average day, eight to 12 cellphones will turn up and about the same number of wallets.
Flutes and other musical instruments left behind by students are usually the most valuable lost items and have the highest recovery rates, with about 95 per cent reunited with their owners, Moloughney said.
About 70 per cent of cellphones are eventually picked up, and only 60 per cent of lost wallets are reclaimed.
Books were once a frequently discarded item, Moloughney said, but no longer. She pointed to a nearly empty bookcase with a few sad paperbacks. In the next room, buyers were bidding on the e-readers being auctioned off.
And the weirdest item that’s turned up at the lost-and-found?
Moloughney grimaced at the thought.
“Dentures” she said.
Buyers look over goods left on Transpo buses.
Hundreds line up for the door opening at the annual Heartwood sale of goods left on Transpo vehicles.
Yusuf Hamisi picked up an armload of umbrellas for $10. He wanted one for each of his family members, with a few back-ups.
Despite the clouds outdoors, sunglasses were a popular item at the sale of items left on OC Transpo vehicles.
Score! Columbo Collector’s Edition for $3.
Shoppers with some of the items left on OC Transpo vehicles last year.
查看原文...
