Charities inundated with donated goods

People are being asked to check first with opportunity shops before arriving with goods to donate.

Gates at the Mawarra opportunity shop storage depot in June Crt were closed for a time last week because “we simply couldn’t handle the amount of goods being brought in,” volunteer Dianne Blythe said.

It is a similar situation at most of the other opportunity shops in the district, she added.

Ms Blythe said the influx was a seasonal problem. “We have been inundated”. “It’s the time of the year when people use a day or two of their holidays to have a bit of a clean out”.

Toys are also popular donations after children received new ones at Christmas, she said.

And it is a time when volunteer helper numbers are down on normal with many of them away on holidays.

Ms Blythe said the Mawarra shop was restricting receipts of large furniture items such as beds and couches at this time due to the storage space they take up and minimal public demand for them.

She said the donations were appreciated but asked that people call first to find out if the shops were able to accept them at certain periods.

Another issue of concern to the opportunity shops, Ms Blythe said, was when people left donated items outside shops and storage depots at night.

If they are not put in the charity bins they are often stolen or damaged and had to be disposed of.