Charity used as a rubbish dump
Joe Ten Broeke loves it when he comes in to the St Vincent de Paul store and sees no rubbish piled up at the doors.
The president of St Vincent de Paul in the Kapi Mana district is fed up with the dumping that occurs at the front and rear of the Porirua store, located among the Mungavin shops.
He said it came in waves, with this time of year particularly bad.
Donations of good clothing and furniture still roll in regularly, Mr Ten Broeke said, but over the the past fortnight there had been a spate of unwanted rubbish dumped.
Volunteers have arrived to find old TVs – most not working – and broken furniture piled up.
Bags with food scraps are common.
‘‘Two weeks ago there was a duvet left at the back entrance and there were flies all around it.
‘‘ When we lifted it up there were mussel shells in it. If you have a hot day and you get that sort of thing, it can be awful.
‘‘ Last week a cabinet fell to pieces when we moved it.’’
Having to dispose of things like that and other refuse comes with another headache the organisation can ill afford — tip fees. It costs $38.50 for a visit to the Spicer Landfill, as well as petrol costs, and Mr Ten Broeke said volunteers were doing that at least twice a month.
‘‘ We barely break even and these [landfill] costs are taking money away from people in this community.
‘‘We have to pay for rent, power and telephone and we are trying to help people and welfare organisations. The dumping is very selfish.’’
Mr Ten Broeke said the organis- ation couldn’t afford security cameras.
He was buoyed to hear the area would be getting a facelift and said the top of their building suffered regular graffiti, which St Vincent de Paul had to clean themselves.
Porirua City Council will collect unwanted household items from your home twice a year. For information, call 237 6440.