STAFF at St Vincent de Paul want to remind Orange residents they cannot accept donated electrical items, after four large fans were left outside the McNamara Street centre over the weekend.
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The Orange store’s retail and distribution manager Anthony Doyle said health and safety practices prevented the charity from selling electrical items without them being certified safe for use.
He said if the charity tested the items before sale the cost would be passed on to the customers, making the items almost as expensive as the retail price.
“If we didn’t check them we’d be held responsible if something went wrong,” Mr Doyle said.
He said people often donated small electrical kitchen items and lamps.
“We get a couple of sewing machines each week and often get stunning lamps of very good quality but we have to cut their cords and dispose of them,” he said.
Mr Doyle said often the electrical items were dropped outside the store after closing hours so volunteers were unable to stop the practice.
“I think people think they’re doing the right thing,” he said.
“They don’t think of the broader implications.”
Mr Doyle said it often took volunteers an hour every day to clean up items left outside the store.
He said there were still people who looked through the donated items at night, sometimes urinating and defecating on the goods.
“It’s only a small percentage who do the wrong thing,” he said.
“The quality of the items is usually excellent, it’s rare to get items which are unusable.”
Mr Doyle said people wanting to donate to the charity should do so between 9am and 4.30pm on weekdays and between 9am and noon on Saturdays.
tracey.prisk@fairfaxmedia.com.au