NYC Marathon Volunteer Takes Final Ton of Discarded Clothing to Drop Box
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Capping her own marathon of sorts, a New York City Marathon volunteer this morning delivered the final ton of discarded clothing from this year’s race, shoving the unwanted items into a used-clothing drop box near her Staten Island home.
Linda Wertheimer, a local runner who volunteered last Sunday at the race start at the Verrazzano Bridge, was among dozens who helped to collect 60 tons of clothing in and around the starting area. Items worn by runners in the early morning chill and then cast away as the race began included sweatshirts, jackets, ponchos, hats, gloves, and more.
Once the items were bagged, it fell on Wertheimer alone to donate it.
“There’s a huge Goodwill about five miles from my house,” she told Dumb Runner. “But to be honest, I just didn’t have time to go there. Plus it’s always a zoo.”
Instead, said Wertheimer, she took the items to a drop box in the parking lot of a nearby Whole Foods.
“That was much more convenient,” she said, “although I had to make, like, a hundred trips. I have a Kia, so not a lot of trunk space.”
Wertheimer said it’s a lot of work—”My arm nearly fell off from all that opening and closing the metal drawer thing”—but she’s happy to help.
“I like feeling that I’ve done my part to make such an amazing event possible,” she said as she shoved the very last item, a badly faded Ocean Pacific long-sleeve tee, into the drop box. “That said, I’m glad to be done with this for another year.”
“It’s good to have all this stuff out of my apartment.”
