A non-profit group in Brantford is pleading with people to stop leaving garbage in and around its donation boxes after they say a woman was spotted doing just that.
“Things that are garbage need to be put in the garbage and not given to a charity or nonprofit to deal with,” said Tracey Langley, ReStore Manager for Habitat for Humanity Brant-Norfolk.
Langely says when she arrived at the Brantford location on Tuesday morning, she discovered between 15 and 20 garbage bags surrounding its donation box.
Upon closer inspection, the store manager says she realized that the bags were filled with a mixture of waste and donations, the combination emitting an “unbelievable” smell.
“At that point it also becomes a health and safety issue for our staff,” she said.
After looking through the bags, Langely says she reviewed the store security footage which showed a woman in a car had dropped off the bags while the store was closed.
A video posted to the organization’s Facebook account appeared to show that the garbage bags had also been ripped open and rifled through overnight, anther ongoing issue for the charity.
“We would appreciate people coming during business hours so we can assess their donations and put them in the proper areas so they don’t get damaged or weathered overnight,” said Langely.
Incidents like this one also use up valuable store resources and cut into charitable profits.
“All people are doing at this point is dumping, and it’s causing my staff time and energy and then we have to pay for the dumping fee,” explained Langely in the Facebook video.
That dumping fee means less money to be used within the community.
