The Whanganui Koha Shed had to close this week after a big pile of household rubbish was dumped on its doorstep.
Manager Sherron Sunnex and volunteer workers arrived at the Duncan St premises yesterday morning to find the heap of unusable items blocking the doorway.
"This amount of rubbish costs us around $250 to take to the transfer station."
Sunnex said the money would have to come from funds raised to help families.
"Effectively that's five families we would not be able to help with food."