Surplus from flood-relief donations on sale

by JAMES GARDINER

It was the Red Cross jumble sale to end them all.

Four months on from the devastating flooding in the Manawatu-Wanganui region, what was left of the tonnes of donated goods that deluged relief workers went on sale in Palmerston North.

Bargain hunters were clamouring to get in. When the doors opened at 9am yesterday, more than 200 people were waiting outside.

Hundreds more followed them over the next few hours into the giant warehouse that for three days will make any other garage sale in the city redundant.

Rows of trestle tables greeted them, laden with a vast array of clothes, toys, furniture and household goods.

For 50c you could buy a transistor radio, for $10 a stereo system, and for $5 you could take as many clothes as you could stuff into a Red Cross shopping bag. Wanting more? Take a cardboard box-full for $10.

They say one man's junk is another man's treasure and, clearly, a lot of what was on display appeared destined for the junkyard, but would-be buyers were undeterred.

They rummaged through boxes and snapped up the most unlikely combinations of odds and ends. As you do.

Second-hand dealers, some of whom have complained that the final flood-relief fundraising fling of the Red Cross will hurt their businesses, were also present - even haggling over prices.

There was keen interest in wooden furniture. Bed parts, headboards and bookcases were flying out the door for as little as $1 a pop.

"It's going better than we thought," said Red Cross regional director David Neal.

He expected crowd control problems when the doors first opened but said the chill in the air may have persuaded some to leave their run till later.

There was little likelihood of everything being gone before the doors re-open at 9am today, or tomorrow for that matter.

Mr Neal pointed to more rows of boxes stacked high on shelves, saying there was plenty more to bring out.

The volume of donated goods was twice what flood victims could take.

Mr Neal said one lesson learned from the nationwide appeal was that cash was best and second-hand goods should be specifically targeted.

He hoped to raise between $20,000 and $50,000, all of which would be added to the flood relief fund.

So far the Red Cross has doled out most of the $4.2 million it received in donations from the public, businesses, the Government and other aid organisations.

Michael Feyen, one of the 130 volunteers running the sale in a series of shifts over the three days, suggested any leftover clothes and bedding should be shipped overseas to the Pacific or India, but Mr Neal said that was not practical.

"The cost of sending it is prohibitive. I estimated it would have cost $200,000 to get it to the Islands. The freight companies brought it here for free. They're not going to take it back."