LARGELY good but misguided intentions are costing Vinnies Dandenong op shop about $24,000 a year, says its region support manager Peter Kalogeropoulos.
The piles of discarded furniture, clothes, garden clippings and household goods cluttered the front of the store almost daily, he said.
The vast majority of it is not fit for sale — either the best stuff has been stolen by scavengers overnight or it has been damaged by the elements.
The store disposes of the junk — that quickly fills its three-metre skip — up to twice a week at the tip. Two full-time truck drivers are devoted to the task.
Then there’s the lost hours — up to two hours at the start of each day — to tidy up the rubbish mounds. That equates to one lost day a week.
“The Easter weekend we just had has been the worst we’ve seen,” Mr Kalogeropoulos said. “Usually, Sunday nights are the prime times.”
He says the garbage — or donations, if you look at it the other way — is mainly left “for the right reasons”. Either way, the cost and time takes away from their essential service: to help those in need.
“If we haven’t got good stock like clothing, blankets, essential items, we can’t help them.” Mr Kalogeropoulos welcomed the state government’s $500,000 anti-dumping funding, some of which will go to the Vinnies Dandenong store. “We’ll be hoping to install security lighting and cameras in line with some of our other stores.
“These things have assisted us in the past, along with signage going up explaining that dumping is an offence and could attract fines.”
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