THE Salvation Army is crippling under the weight of Ballarat’s rubbish.
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The Wendouree Thrift Shop on Norman Street is close to breaking point, with dozens of volunteers working seven days a week to sort and dispose of rubbish that is dumped at the front of the shop.
Salvation Army minister Debbie Serojales said the Wendouree thrift shop spent $1500 a month on average for rubbish disposal.
“The amount of things that we receive that we can not sell limits the amount we can serve the community because of the cost of disposing of the rubbish,” Ms Serojales said.
The thrift shop budgets for $18,000 a year for rubbish disposal, which Ms Serojales said could be better spent on serving the community.
Acting manager Laurie Cosgrove said people needed to be mindful and donate only saleable items.
“It’s a recurrent issue and it’s increasing. It’s been a problem forever. One of the reasons is because it is so expensive to drop stuff at the tip,” she said.
Ms Cosgrove said Monday mornings proved the greatest challenge for the volunteers – when the shop had been closed over the weekend.
“There are days when our whole driveway is full,” Ms Cosgrove said.
“Apart from working on the till, our job is sorting through what’s been left here and distinguishing rubbish from saleable
items.”
The call for help comes after several stories in The Courier highlighting rubbish dumping in the city’s nature reserves.
Ms Serojales said the shop could receive five mattresses a day, each costing $31 to dispose of at the transfer station.
The shop is also subject to burglars and theft of saleable items.
“We have people on the weekend who rummage through the goods and take away saleable items,” Ms Serojales said.
She said recently installed security cameras and an alarm assisted in catching burglars last month.
“Our clothing is $1.50 a piece and when people break in and make a huge mess it is so frustrating,” she said.
“We also have a drop-in centre where people can have a drink and a chat, it’s about providing for the people.”
Ballarat City Council provides assistance to the Salvation Army to lessen the cost of disposing rubbish at the transfer station.
david.jeans@fairfaxmedai.com.au