So the MAM Room is Clean . . .

The MAM room is clean . . . at least for the time being. Here are a few guidelines for the sorting of items that will (hopefully) keep it that way:

1. When opening a bag or box of items to sort through, remember that people who donate often do not take the time to sort out the items they’ve donated. This means that much of what you’ll find will need to be discarded. Consider the following when deciding whether or not to keep an item:

· The condition of an item is key. If it has holes or stains, throw it out. If it smells, throw it out. If it’s faded or torn, throw it out.

· Age is also a factor. If an item arrives in a time machine from 1976, it probably won’t be worn again in the 21^st century. Throw it out.

· Most people wear underwear, but we don’t recycle it. Throw it out.

· Most of the footwear we receive is beyond disgusting. If you wouldn’t wear those sandals yourself, throw them out.

· If an item is either extremely small or extremely large (like 4XL), chances are we won’t find a home for it. Throw it out.

· Pants are extremely difficult to give away. Keep only the very best of the best, which is a good general rule when working in the MAM room.

2. After sorting through the bag of donated items and following the guidelines above, it’s time to hang up the items you’ve decided to actually keep. Most of our items hang on racks. So here’s what to do next:

· Place the items on hangers.

· Mark them using our pricing gun with a date of expiration. We keep nothing more than a year. After that, we visit Goodwill.

· Sort the items by department. Yes, believe it or not, we have separate sections for most things: women’s long-sleeve tops, women’s short-sleeved tops, women’s sweaters, women’s dresses, women’s vests, etc. A simple tour of the room will reveal our system.

· Hang/place the items in their respective departments, and re-locate misplaced items that you come across.

· Return any empty hangers you find during this process to the hanger rack.