Editorial: Charity dumping is selfish act

The Salvation Army is one of many charities hit by overnight dumping of unsaleable goods. Photo File

You have to feel for the Salvation Army and its fellow charity stores.

Stacks of unsaleable goods are frequently dumped outside many depots throughout the region.

The acts certainly can't be termed "gifting" or even well intentioned. Most of it is left at night or when stores are closed, meaning the culprits obviously realise the "goods" won't pass muster with staff when the outlets are open.

The Salvation Army regional family store manager Nigel Waters this week said the charity did not like to draw attention to these events because they often increased with others thinking it was a good idea to leave rubbish outside.

And they're not isolated events. It happens weekly - there's even a trending peak offending time at weekends.

The existence of these stores is a luxury we're forgetting. They're run on a shoestring and rely on volunteers and goodwill.

Dumping eats away at the tiny budgets of the charities, who themselves have to pay to get rid of the rubbish like anyone else.

This week's story came in the same week as the Salvation Army's Winter Appeal - where the organisation announced a 13 per cent increase in people seeking help at the Napier and Hastings stores last winter.

In these cases, "giving" to charity is effectively stealing from charity. CCTV cameras could be an option. But by nature charities aren't litigious types. Besides, security measures are just another expense.

We can only hope those inclined to do this realise they're jeopardising a tremendously understated social service.