SYates
Camino Fossil AD 1999, now living in Santiago de C
- Time of past OR future Camino
- First: Camino Francés 1999
...
Last: Santiago - Muxia 2019
Now: http://egeria.house/
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What a wonderful idea!! I hope you get more donations than you can even handle!
Hi everybody,
Lately there were a lot of threads regarding what to do with "leftover gear" here in Santiago, here on the forum and also in various Facebook groups. Ann from Pilgrim House and I came up with an idea - bring it to us and we will clean it, do minor repairs if necessary and then hand it over to the Franciscans that run the homeless shelter here in Santiago. These men that live on the streets need the same things as pilgrims do: backpacks to transport their belongings, rain gear to stay dry, clothes to stay warm etc. So if you want to leave things behind in Santiago, you can bring it to:
https://pilgrimhousesantiago.com/contact/ (scroll down for opening times)
or, if Pilgrim House is closed, you can contact me, see http://egeria.house/contact/ , and either bring it to my place or I pick it up from you.
Buen Camino, SY
Fantastic idea ..... the Camino in action, yet again .....Hi everybody,
Lately there were a lot of threads regarding what to do with "leftover gear" here in Santiago, here on the forum and also in various Facebook groups. Ann from Pilgrim House and I came up with an idea - bring it to us and we will clean it, do minor repairs if necessary and then hand it over to the Franciscans that run the homeless shelter here in Santiago. These men that live on the streets need the same things as pilgrims do: backpacks to transport their belongings, rain gear to stay dry, clothes to stay warm etc. So if you want to leave things behind in Santiago, you can bring it to:
https://pilgrimhousesantiago.com/contact/ (scroll down for opening times)
or, if Pilgrim House is closed, you can contact me, see http://egeria.house/contact/ , and either bring it to my place or I pick it up from you.
Buen Camino, SY
Thank you, Sybil. This is a wonderful idea. In fact, lately I have been wondering what happens to all the gear many pilgrims say they leave behind in Santiago. Specifically, I wondered about trekking poles because, unlike clothing and packs, who in Santiago could use them. So, does anyone know what happens to trekking poles that are left in Santiago? or confiscated at the airport?Hi everybody,
Lately there were a lot of threads regarding what to do with "leftover gear" here in Santiago, here on the forum and also in various Facebook groups. Ann from Pilgrim House and I came up with an idea - bring it to us and we will clean it, do minor repairs if necessary and then hand it over to the Franciscans that run the homeless shelter here in Santiago. These men that live on the streets need the same things as pilgrims do: backpacks to transport their belongings, rain gear to stay dry, clothes to stay warm etc. So if you want to leave things behind in Santiago, you can bring it to:
https://pilgrimhousesantiago.com/contact/ (scroll down for opening times)
or, if Pilgrim House is closed, you can contact me, see http://egeria.house/contact/ , and either bring it to my place or I pick it up from you.
Buen Camino, SY
...Specifically, I wondered about trekking poles because, unlike clothing and packs, who in Santiago could use them. So, does anyone know what happens to trekking poles that are left in Santiago? or confiscated at the airport?
There’s a box to leave trekking poles in the courtyard of the building where you get your compostela. We always leave our poles behind there, and we have also gotten poles there.Thank you, Sybil. This is a wonderful idea. In fact, lately I have been wondering what happens to all the gear many pilgrims say they leave behind in Santiago. Specifically, I wondered about trekking poles because, unlike clothing and packs, who in Santiago could use them. So, does anyone know what happens to trekking poles that are left in Santiago? or confiscated at the airport?
God bless youHi everybody,
Lately there were a lot of threads regarding what to do with "leftover gear" here in Santiago, here on the forum and also in various Facebook groups. Ann from Pilgrim House and I came up with an idea - bring it to us and we will clean it, do minor repairs if necessary and then hand it over to the Franciscans that run the homeless shelter here in Santiago. These men that live on the streets need the same things as pilgrims do: backpacks to transport their belongings, rain gear to stay dry, clothes to stay warm etc. So if you want to leave things behind in Santiago, you can bring it to:
https://pilgrimhousesantiago.com/contact/ (scroll down for opening times)
or, if Pilgrim House is closed, you can contact me, see http://egeria.house/contact/ , and either bring it to my place or I pick it up from you.
Buen Camino, SY
And, of course, a donation to the Pilgrim House (there's a box on the wall) for the rental of poles is always a good idea!To pick up on the exchange with my friend Sybil above regarding trekking poles...
Many pilgrims abandon their trekking poles and staffs at the Pilgrim Office. Many are wooden staffs ranging from dead branches to commercially sourced and nicely decorated staffs. Other pilgrims deposit their segmented aluminum, steel, and carbon fiber, trekking poles as well.
The reasons are simple:
At the Pilgrim Office, there is an informal scheme to recycle all the abandoned hiking staffs and poles:
- The staff or poles is / are now surplus to needs, and no longer wanted, for any reason.
- It is problematic taking on an airplane in most cases. People who know this avoid taking them to the airport.
- At the airport, confiscated hiking poles disappear. I do not know where they go. I presume they end up in the trash...or recycling if we are lucky.
Any pilgrim arriving at the Pilgrim Office who NEEDS trekking poles, needs only to ask a volunteer or a staff member if they can have something from the discard pile. Volunteer wear blue ACC camisetas (t-shirts). Staff members wear regular clothing.
- Wooden staffs are periodically collected by a local charity that strips the staff of metal bits and cuts them to stove lengths. There are still folks living around Santiago who use wood or coal for heating and cooking, the cut wood staffs become kindling or stove wood.
- Pilgrim Office staff or volunteers (like me) may triage the abandoned metal and carbon fiber poles to pick out the best quality and condition sets. These are taken to Pilgrim House for their donativo. Occasionally some go to Sybil at Egeria House. However, this is maybe only 1 out of 20 abandoned sets of poles. Only the best are recycled this way.
- Outside Santiago, at the Contemporary Art Museum up on the hill, there is an evolving sculpture made entirely of abandoned trekking poles. When abandoned, if the pilgrim tagged the staff of trekking pole with a white card ticket (provided there) as a sign requests, these items are not recycled but are periodically picked up by someone from the museum for eventual addition to the sculpture. This 'dump' is at the Pilgrim Office.
- Trekking poles or staffs not skimmed off for local donativo purposes, taken for firewood, or tagged for use in the sculpture, are generally placed in the recycling pile, adjacent to the trash. Here, they are periodically disposed of. One hopes they are in fact recycled...
I have never heard a 'no' answer. In July and August when I am there, I often help pilgrims find a good set of poles. People only have to ask. There are plenty to go around, especially in summer.
Hope this helps.
Five big and heavy bags full with shoes/boots, clothing, toiletries and other goodies have been delivered to the Franciscans today. Thank you all ever so much for making that possible and remember to bring us your unwanted gear instead of binning it!
BC SY
Thanks for satisfying my curiosity!To pick up on the exchange with my friend Sybil above regarding trekking poles...
Many pilgrims abandon their trekking poles and staffs at the Pilgrim Office. Many are wooden staffs ranging from dead branches to commercially sourced and nicely decorated staffs. Other pilgrims deposit their segmented aluminum, steel, and carbon fiber, trekking poles as well.
The reasons are simple:
At the Pilgrim Office, there is an informal scheme to recycle all the abandoned hiking staffs and poles:
- The staff or poles is / are now surplus to needs, and no longer wanted, for any reason.
- It is problematic taking on an airplane in most cases. People who know this avoid taking them to the airport.
- At the airport, confiscated hiking poles disappear. I do not know where they go. I presume they end up in the trash...or recycling if we are lucky.
Any pilgrim arriving at the Pilgrim Office who NEEDS trekking poles, needs only to ask a volunteer or a staff member if they can have something from the discard pile. Volunteer wear blue ACC camisetas (t-shirts). Staff members wear regular clothing.
- Wooden staffs are periodically collected by a local charity that strips the staff of metal bits and cuts them to stove lengths. There are still folks living around Santiago who use wood or coal for heating and cooking, the cut wood staffs become kindling or stove wood.
- Pilgrim Office staff or volunteers (like me) may triage the abandoned metal and carbon fiber poles to pick out the best quality and condition sets. These are taken to Pilgrim House for their donativo. Occasionally some go to Sybil at Egeria House. However, this is maybe only 1 out of 20 abandoned sets of poles. Only the best are recycled this way.
- Outside Santiago, at the Contemporary Art Museum up on the hill, there is an evolving sculpture made entirely of abandoned trekking poles. When abandoned, if the pilgrim tagged the staff of trekking pole with a white card ticket (provided there) as a sign requests, these items are not recycled but are periodically picked up by someone from the museum for eventual addition to the sculpture. This 'dump' is at the Pilgrim Office.
- Trekking poles or staffs not skimmed off for local donativo purposes, taken for firewood, or tagged for use in the sculpture, are generally placed in the recycling pile, adjacent to the trash. Here, they are periodically disposed of. One hopes they are in fact recycled...
I have never heard a 'no' answer. In July and August when I am there, I often help pilgrims find a good set of poles. People only have to ask. There are plenty to go around, especially in summer.
Hope this helps.
, it is a better way to get stuff to people who I KNOW can use it, as opposed to 'bottom shoppers,' people with means who shop in charity shops, as opposed to people in need who have no alternative...but I digress...
...
SYeats- If womens clothing is also welcome, I will find you when I reach Santiago.
Me too! If I'd known there were thrift shops in Santiago I'd probably miss my flight home. ☺Women's clothing is also very welcome, just bring over what you don't need anymore when you arrive. Buen Camino, SY (who also shops mainly at thrift/second hand shops ;-)
Me too! If I'd known there were thrift shops in Santiago I'd probably miss my flight home. ☺
I've wondered if leftover/donated poles (and possibly other items) could make their way to SJDP for pilgrims to use or purchase with the proceeds going to a charity?And, of course, a donation to the Pilgrim House (there's a box on the wall) for the rental of poles is always a good idea!
It's been mooted before - it's a problem of logistics mainly.I've wondered if leftover/donated poles (and possibly other items) could make their way to SJDP for pilgrims to use or purchase with the proceeds going to a charity?
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