Photos show major mistake as Aussies brace for cyclone fallout
After the last two major flooding events occurred in 2022 in Lismore, and 2019 in Townsville, the charity was inundated with bags and boxes of donations from those desperate to do their bit to help those affected. However it left volunteers with a mountain of items to sort through, and it quickly became a logistical headache when time was of the essence to provide critical support.
"Recovery organisations are forced to allocate precious time and resources to receiving, sorting, storing and distributing unrequested items," a branch located in Maclean, in the NSW Northern Rivers in conjunction with charity GIVIT, wrote to the public.
"Unrequested donations should not be dropped off at organisations or sent to impacted areas."
The huge piles of donated clothes pictured above, ultimately ended up in landfill, the charity said.
The GIVIT charity is urging Aussies to instead showcase the donations they have to its online warehouse. This not only makes the process more orderly, but it also centralises all donations and gives access to more than 4,900 partner charities who can review and reserve items — ensuring they get to the right people who need them. When the items are required, a charity will contact the donor directly.
Donation dumping continues to be an issue op shops are wrestling with across the country and it's not just exclusive to severe weather events like in Queensland and Northern NSW at the moment. Striking photos have been shared by volunteers showing bags, and even loose items, left at storefronts and blocking access to the building, when decrying to behaviour.
People are encouraged to take donations into the shops during opening hours so volunteers can physically inspect, accept and process to "get them on the shop floor for sale", Paula McCormack from St Vincent de Paul Society previously told Yahoo News.
"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 of 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.
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