Charity fills two shipping containers with donations
Hospice Waikato has been inundated with donations since the end of lockdown, forcing it to hire extra shipping containers for storage.
The charity organisation’s first shipping container was overflowing with donations just three days after their doors reopened, with people lining up to offload their unwanted goods once level 3 was lifted.
The Frankton store, one of eight owned by Hospice, on Lakes Rd, had so many donations it had to hire two more shipping containers for bric-a-brac and clothing alone, Waikato Hospice CEO Craig Tamblyn said.
He said the store already had two smaller containers on a regular basis and a warehouse for donated furniture, but the volumes have sky-rocketed.
‘‘The community has been incredibly generous,’’ Tamblyn said. ‘‘I think the case is that people did spring cleaning early while they were doing lockdown.’’
Even in level 3, when the Hospice shops were shut, people were leaving bags of items on shop doorsteps, Tamblyn said.
‘‘We had vehicles going around and goods that were left outside our shops were just picked up and put in the containers where they could be stored for at least three days to protect and make sure they had no Covid-19 on them.’’
Regional retail manager Theresa Biddlake was also buzzing about the generosity of Waikato, saying June and July were normally their quieter months.
‘‘We probably filled up the first container within three days and then had to get another container which we filled up again in another three days,’’ she said.
While staff have only started sorting out a third of the donations, she said, the quality of some has been ‘‘unbelievable’’.
‘‘We’ve been given jewellery, full set pieces and items that look like they’ve never been touched. There’s so many hidden gems,’’ Biddlake said.
‘‘Just recently we received a Crown Lynn swan in great condition, which they could have sold for about $500, but the person insisted on giving it away. It’s incredible how generous people are.’’
Buyers have also been no different. Frankton Hospice was booming with people wandering through aisles upon aisles of secondhand items on Thursday.
A staff member mans the gate to direct traffic for parking.
Tamblyn said staff and some volunteers have only now just been able to start back at work and there’s a ‘‘buzz in the air’’ about getting back into a bit more normality.
‘‘We’ve got volunteers and staff sorting out things, and we are slowly bringing more volunteers back, because a lot weren’t able to come back at levels 2 and 3. More people are also starting to come into our shops now, so it’s just great.’’