Editorial: Army's good work ruined by a selfish few

Andrew Austin, Editor of Hawke's Bay Today.

Readers of this newspaper will know that I am a firm supporter of the good work done by the Salvation Army.

They are a selfless bunch, whose faith and caring ethos, ensures that those in need have somewhere to turn to in their hour of need.

Now, I know there are many organisations that do good work and I applaud them for that, but I have, over the years, been particularly struck by the goodness of the Salvation Army.

The Army's reputation in the community means that they are well supported and able to provide for the less fortunate.

Unfortunately it is this support that is causing the charity in Hawke's Bay some problems. To mangle a well know phrase from an advert - it is not the giving, but the way we are giving.

The Salvation Army is calling for people to use its pick-up service or only donate items during store hours because of the mess they find when people leave items outside their stores.

In the latest incident, some donations dropped outside the Carlyle St Family Store in Napier were ransacked and left scattered across the pavement. By yesterday morning the items were ruined because of heavy rain over the weekend. See our story on Page 5 of today's paper.

It seems as if people are going through the items, taking what they want and leaving a mess in their wake. It was worse when collections bins were placed outside, as people would simply use them to throw their rubbish away.

Whatever the reason for people behaving like this, it needs to stop.

The Salvation Army should be allowed to focus on what it does best - helping others.