Vinnies calls out donation myth after putrid discovery on doorstep: 'Makes it difficult'

Yahoo

28-01-2025

Australian charities are facing an urgent and ongoing need for donations, despite the common misconception their stores are often "full."
Industry insiders are calling for Aussies to continue coming forward with items they no longer need that may help people facing hardship. But they ask for people to do so respectfully and in the appropriate way after several charity stores were seen with piles of items dumped at their sites.
Paula McCormack of the St Vincent de Paul Society is the charity's retail regional manager for the northeast. She spoke to Yahoo News Australia and urged prospective donors to learn best practices, which includes only handing in items "you'd feel comfortable giving to a friend".
McCormack clarified that even when donations are paused in some locations, they can still be taken and redirected to other areas where they are needed most.
"I'm not sure the message is getting through that we still need donations," McCormack told Yahoo.
"We rely on them very heavily in shops because we fund all of our work in society [that way], which, for example, helps victims of domestic violence find temporary accommodation, helps people to pay their electricity bills, put petrol in their cars, all those kinds of things.
"I won't say we ever have enough. We always have a shortage of menswear for instance, right throughout the year."
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McCormack said it's important Australians know how to "donate correctly" to ensure their well-meaning efforts are having the intended impact.
"We value donations when we get them, but we just need them done in the correct way," she said.
This includes bringing items into stores during trade hours, so volunteers can physically inspect, accept and process them and "get them on the shop floor for sale".
"We are absolutely, very grateful for donations. But there is a process, and unfortunately, when things are basically dumped outside the front or the back in the shop, by the time we actually get to them the next morning, they're damaged, dirty, wet, strewn all over the footpath," she said.
"And it makes it really difficult for volunteers to stay motivated to do what they need to do."
Recently, a bag of prawn heads was dumped outside a Vinnies store in Coffs Harbour, on the NSW Mid North Coast. McCormack said such acts are far from uncommon.
"That't not unusual," she said. "Every other week we hear of inappropriate items that have been put through our charity bins, left beside them at the front of shops.
"We've had nappies, used nappies, I might add. Used sanitary items. We've had bags that contain things that we have to be really careful about when we handle them.
"We now have to tip out the bags when we're sorting them, rather than putting our hands in, because there could be knives, there could be sharps."
McCormack said that volunteers, many of whom are mature-aged women, should not have to face the physical demands and emotional strain caused by having to sort through garbage and dangerous goods.
"If you look at the Coffs store, the average age is about 63," she said. "We've got gentlemen and ladies close to 90 in that store, and then we have some obviously younger. But they do it because they want to do it. They want to volunteer.
"We don't want them to be worn out and exhausted by the time they finish their shift, we want them to be able to come back and still enjoy it. So these little things that happen, unfortunately put a big damper on the experience for them."
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