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Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Waste not, want not is new marathon rule
Michael Resnic; his daughter, Madi Resnic, 11; Madi's friend, Tessa Curry, 11; and Michael's son, Jack Resnic, 5, pack runners' discarded clothes into plastic bags. (Akira Suwa / Staff Photographer )

 

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones.
 
Michael Resnic of Philadelphia and his daughter Madi, 12, were spectators at the Philadelphia Marathon two years ago when they noticed something that seemed wrong.
 
As thousands of runners prepared to start the race on the chilly November morning, the athletes shed their warm-up clothing. It’s standard practice at marathons — runners don’t need the extra layers because they heat up naturally during the 26.2-mile race.
 
The runners don’t want to carry the spare clothing with them, so they discard it at the starting point or along the first few miles of the route. Resnic and his daughter saw sweatpants, windbreakers, hats, gloves and other apparel discarded everywhere.
 
The clothing was left to be picked up by city sanitation workers and hauled away in trash trucks. What a waste, thought the Resnicks. At that race two years ago, they salvaged what they could and donated the clothing to a charity for the homeless.
 
Since then, their idea has expanded into something truly remarkable. At the marathon on Nov. 22, a small army of volunteers led by Michael and Madi collected an estimated 6,000 items of clothing along the route.
 
They took the clothes to Bethesda Project, a nonprofit that cleans, sorts and distributes the apparel to the homeless. Much of the work is performed by homeless volunteers.
 
And the clothing gets to people who need it just as colder weather is arriving.
 
Some other cities with marathons have had systems in place for years to collect runners’ discarded clothing. In New York, race organizers place bins at the staging area for runners to deposit unwanted clothes. A group called Wearable Collections then distributes it to charities. At the Boston marathon, volunteers collect discarded clothing for the Salvation Army.
 
In Philadelphia, all it took was Michael Resnic and daughter Madi to see the problem and find a wonderful solution. Their efforts deserve as much applause as the cheers for the runners.
Posted by Inquirer Editorial Board @ 4:00 AM  Permalink | Post a comment
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