Advertisement

‘People are selfish’: Fury over mess left outside Salvation Army

There has been fury over a mess of donated goods left outside a Salvation Army store in Melbourne.

Video uploaded to Reddit shows the pile of items dumped outside the shop.

The items seen include football boots, what appears to be rolled up carpet, toys, a DVD player, a stroller, several garbage bags, a cot, a laundry basket, a TV and a number of pairs of shoes.

Reddit users weren’t too pleased with the state of the donations.

“People are selfish a***holes,” one woman wrote.

Items are seen dumped outside a Salvation Army store in Melbourne.
People are not thrilled with this sight outside of a Salvos store in Melbourne. Source: Reddit/ Ghotiah_LORD

One man said “selfish dumping” can’t be disguised as charity – a sentiment which echoed with many people who complained everything dumped outside of the store was just garbage no one would want.

“There’s a lot of work for volunteers to do moving all that junk just to get in the door and make the place look friendly for people to come inside,” he wrote.

Another woman said it made her angry.

“Those poor volunteers having to clean up all that crap,” she wrote.

The Salvation Army has been contacted for comment.

People reminded about 'responsible donating'

Omer Soker, CEO of Charitable Recycling Australia, told Yahoo News Australia the message was to always donate in store or inside a bin.

"Australians generously donate over a million tonnes of household and clothing items to charity shops each year, and we are able to use 86% of these which helps raise $961 million for social welfare programs to support Australians in need," Mr Soker said.

"We also continue to educate the public about responsible donating and encourage donors to only leave donations inside shops or charity bins, never outside as they likely cannot be used due to spoilage from the weather or tampering and create unnecessary waste.

"Please always donate in store or inside a donation bin, remembering that if you wouldn’t give it to a friend, please don’t donate it to a charity."

Sadly, seeing people dumping goods outside of op shops seems to be a common theme.

When the lockdown ended in October last year, many people donated items to Vinnies leading to piles of clothes and unwanted items outside of stores and charity bins bursting at the seams.

A spokesperson from St Vincent de Paul told Yahoo News Australia at the time although they relied on the generosity of people, they encouraged them to carefully think about the quality of what they were donating.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.