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Fifty percent off, 75 percent off, 90 percent off.

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the seasonal merchandise that retailers don’t sell after they have slashed prices after a holiday?

Recently, I found out that many retailers just throw everything away. Yup, you read that correctly: They discard unsold inventory where it will spend a lifetime in a landfill.

If you read my article about Tabitha’s Closet last month, you know this really ticks me off. Whatever happened to waste not, want not?

For many retailers, there is a pretzel logic just to toss things. They have neither the resources nor inclination to do otherwise.

A friend who worked for a home improvement retailer confessed that he’d watched items such as patio furniture and grills get thrown away as the retailer made room for the new seasonal merchandise.
Out with the old, in with the new.

The cost of transporting or storing merchandise that will be out of date (gasp) next season isn’t financially viable, especially considering the time, effort and manpower to make it happen.

But, with the economy in such dire straits, and approximately 12 to 17 percent of the U.S. population living below the poverty line, how on earth can we justify tossing out perfectly usable goods?

My thrifty nature often leads me to stores where I can stock up on seasonal items when they are marked down after the holidays.

I take advantage of these markdowns to stock up on Halloween, Christmas and Valentine items for my elementary school-age kids for the following year. After all, while it would break my budget to purchase a $1 item for two classes of 26 children, it makes perfect sense to purchase that same item for 10 cents and tuck it away until next year.

Luckily for me, on one particular day in early November, Robert Bishop, the manager of Dollar General in Summerfield, happened to be at the register.

As I stood in line with a cart full of small Halloween goodies, he smiled and asked, “Stocking up for next year?”

“You bet,” was my reply. As we chatted, I explained that I was purchasing things to use as prizes for next year’s Haunted Trail, sponsored by the Summerfield Youth Council, of which my 10-year-old daughter and I are active members.

I told him that parents often pick up the cost of supplies to supplement what the nonprofit SYC cannot fund.

Until then, Bishop had no idea that Summerfield had a youth council, and I had no idea that Dollar General gives so much back to the community.

Serendipity.

With more than 8,300 stores in 35 states, Dollar General has more company-owned locations than any retailer in the United States.

It maintains an aggressive recycling program, keeping used computers and store fixtures as well as plastics and paper out of landfills. Their cardboard recycling alone saves the equivalent of nearly 2.4 million trees a year. They also offer a vast selection of eco-friendly products.

Dollar General also supports programs that make a difference in the communities where it does business. With its Literacy Foundation, Dollar General has given more than $5 million a year from loose change that customers toss in their fundraising boxes at the registers. Through this program, the company offers adult, youth and family literacy and back-to-school grants and maintains literacy referral and school library relief programs.

Bishop is a true giver by nature. I always admire people like him — those who work, take care of their family and still find time to help others, especially when they do it with no agenda. He could choose the easy route and simply discard his leftovers, but instead, he seeks out organizations to donate to rather than see it go to waste.

The single father of two is active in PTA, Cub Scouts and church.

When we met that chilly day in November, and he found out about Summerfield Youth Council, he was happy to discover he could now make donations to a nonprofit organization in our community. He especially loved that SYC is youth-based. As an active SYC and PTA member, I’m always looking for businesses willing to make donations.

Thanks to Bishop’s generosity and willingness to help, SYC now has many wonderful goodies to help fill Operation Christmas Child and Adopt-A-Family packages during the holidays. We’ll be able to bring trinkets to the kids at Camp Carefree when we make our annual visit this summer. We have new decorations and prizes to use for the Haunted Trail at Summerfield Community Park and for the annual Tree Lighting at Summerfield Town Hall.

Maybe they should change the name of the store to Dollar Generous.

Nancy Duffy is a mother of two Stokesdale Elementary students and a Northwest High student.