After the season of giving, staff and volunteers at St Vincent de Paul Society’s Mayfield shop returned to work in the new year, only to be confronted with a huge mess left by dumpers and takers.
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“Disheartened,” was manager Cathy Hearn’s reaction to the piles strewn around the charity bin. “And all of that has to go straight to the dump, because it has to be considered contaminated.”
Yet it’s hardly a one-off around the society’s 80 charity bins in the Newcastle and lower Hunter area. Volunteers are regularly confronted with a big clean-up job. What’s more, the dumping of household rubbish and broken items and the “bargain hunting” are costing the society thousands of dollars, which means it is hitting those the charity is trying to help.
“Basically, they’re taking food out of people’s mouths,” said Mrs Hearn, who is also the society’s Newcastle Area Centres Manager.
The society has even hired a security firm for an officer to drive past the Mayfield store four times a night, creating an extra expense of several hundred dollars a week.
But Denise Lucas, St Vincent de Paul Society’s Executive Officer for Maitland-Newcastle, said the security patrols still didn’t deter some. “He’s shooed people on, but they just came back,” Mrs Lucas said.
The society is now looking at erecting a fence along the store’s front.
“It’s sad we have to fence it off, and give it a fort-like security look, but we need it,” said Mrs Lucas.
A large sign at the store’s front warns that the area is under surveillance. But Mrs Hearn said rubbish and broken furniture were still dumped right under the sign – and the security cameras had been stolen. When the Herald visited, Day Coordinator Stephen Pedelty was emptying the charity bin. He was wearing gloves, because occasionally broken bottles and used syringes were dropped through the slot.
Just after Christmas, four bins at Cessnock were set alight and destroyed. The replacement bill will be more than $3000.
Mrs Lucas said the society was grateful for donations to their stores, as it was St Vincent de Paul Society’s main income source, but typically only 30 to 40 per cent of items put in the charity bins could be sold. The rest the society had to dispose of at its cost. She recommended donations be brought directly into Vinnies stores.
