Aid and development are deeply complex and there are no easy answers. The physical donations of goods, be it food or clothes, often have negative impacts on the local economy. It would be far better for aid organizations to buy products locally. Aid shouldn't be about making North Americans comfortable with a culture of mass consumption and waste. It has to be actually making the lives of people in the recipient country better.

Quite a few of my colleagues are eager volunteers who often collect charitable donations. I value their contributions to our community but my spouse was told, right after the holiday break, that his position would be abolished. What is the appropriate way of declining all of the upcoming requests?