Once music fans exit the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio at the end of the Stagecoach and Coachella festivals, work begins for the charitable organizations, turning more than 24 tons of trash scattered across the 642-acre property into a Let’s give. Benefit for the local needy.
Among the items left at the festival grounds are clothing, camping gear, dried foods and other items that local community organizations take away in trucks to help benefit low-income and homeless people.
Many people attending festivals from out of town leave folding tables or camping chairs as they fly into Southern California and buy what they need for the weekend, but leave the luggage on the plane when they leave Can’t take it, said director Lupe Torres-Hilario. to operate on Galilee CenterA nonprofit organization that provides food, clothing, and basic needs to local underprivileged children, families, and farm workers in the eastern Coachella Valley.
The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival ran April 12–14 and April 19–21. The Stagecoach Country Music Festival ran April 26–28.
For the past five years, the Galilee Center has sent two trucks to the Stagecoach Festival and four trucks to the Coachella Festival the day after the festival ends. Volunteers and Galilee Center staff split up between camp sites to find discarded items or ask attendees who were packing at camp if they had anything to donate.
“When they do that (want to donate) they sometimes give us an open umbrella and we close it up, pack it up and put it in our truck,” Torres-Hilario said. “
Festivals attract different types of fans, he said: Coachella attendees primarily rely on tent camping and car camping, while Stagecoach fans often come in RVs. There are fewer abandoned items after Stagecoach as people pack up their RVs and leave, Torres-Hilario said.
The Galilee Center also frequently receives calls from event sponsors who want to donate tables, chairs, and rugs.
This year, the center collected £48,480 in donations from Coachella. The total number of items collected after Stagecoach has not yet been tallied.
Last year, Goldenvoice, the music festival promoter that organizes Coachella and Stagecoach, donated a total of 34.6 tons of material from Coachella and Stagecoach.
Most of the donated items are put up for sale in the Galilee Center’s thrift store; Proceeds go toward the organization’s programs. The funds are used for programs that provide assistance with rent and utility bill assistance and the purchase of items such as diapers for infants, protein drinks and food for seniors to replenish the center’s distribution program. We do.
Clothing and furniture vouchers given to low-income individuals and families can be used to pay for items from the concerts in the center’s thrift store. Torres-Hilario said leftover cots and sleeping bags are often given to homeless people for free.
“Some of it is trash and we throw it away, but most of the stuff is in good condition that I can easily take from Coachella and hand out to a family in need,” she said.
In addition to Galilee, non-profit organizations that have partnered include Martha’s Village & Kitchen and Coachella Valley Rescue Mission.
Martha’s Village and Kitchen Serves the homeless and poor in the Coachella Valley and Riverside County. The nonprofit receives calls for donation dropoffs or pickups during and after the event, said its spokeswoman, Alexandra Vargas.
When a client graduates from the organization’s residential program and moves into their own home, thrift store items can be used to decorate their home.
Coachella Fest also benefits those in need when music fans visit the Indio Thrift Story run by Martha’s Village & Kitchen during “Thrift-Chella,” an annual sale event that offers deals such as five pieces of clothing for $1 .
Often festival goers who shop in bulk at thrift stores bring back items to donate that they did not use during the festival or could not take with them when going home.
“Things like this help us with our revenue because what we make from the thrift store is what funds everything we do,” Vargas said.
Surplus food from festivals also helps charitable organizations. Every day of festivals, Coachella Valley Rescue Mission A food truck is driven around the festival grounds to pick up leftover food from all the food booths that serve meals at the Mission, said Scott Wolf, its development director.
“We serve 700 to 1,000 meals a day here at the rescue mission, so the food items donated by GoldenVoice go a long way in helping us serve those meals,” Wolf said.
Whether it’s donations or “thrift-disciples,” Vargas said he thinks the total amount donated to his group from festivals has increased in recent years. He said he is not sure whether this is due to influencers spreading the word about the charity or if it is just an increase in awareness.
“It’s been a greater benefit to our community over the years,” he said.
Martha’s Village & Kitchen’s client population is 55% families and children, who receive services such as daycare, shelter, and an emergency food pantry, along with an income-based fee. Packaged food donations especially help keep the pantry stocked, Vargas said, “especially because the cost of groceries has increased so much with inflation.”
Donations are greatly needed, he said, as lines at food pantries have been getting longer since last year.
