An ever-demanding economic environment is seeing an increase in people seeking food parcels from St Vincent de Paul Conference Ashburton.
St Vincent de Paul president Trevor Wall said on average they are making up 21 to 24 food parcels a week, up about 10 per cent from last year.
‘‘The effects of the economy and the cost of living are some of the reasons we see more people needing assistance.
‘‘With children returning to school and the cost of school books, and especially uniforms even second hand ones it can be hard for families and they have to find money for food, and its not always there,’’ Wall said.
Most of the increase are from people needing a one-off food parcels because despite good budgeting an unexpected bill for a medical or dental appointment or repairs to an appliances can see those who have carefully budgeted left with no choice but to ask for help with a food parcel.
The conference doesn’t have a cap on the number of parcels they give out and they respond to requests rather than passing anyone on to another food bank.
Wall said there are many people that make it possible for them to provide food parcels, from the generous people in the community who support with donations, all those staff and volunteers who run their shop in Victoria St where some of the profit is used to purchase items for the food parcels, and the great team who make up and deliver the parcels.
‘‘We are very grateful to volunteers and staff at our shop and the people who spend time making up the parcels and delivering them to folks and making a connection with the families,‘‘ Wall said.
‘‘We want to thank the whole of the community for the way they give, whether its through Toot for Tucker or when we have a need arises.
In previous years the donations that have been received through Toot for Tucker have last until August. Last year’s donations have all but gone.
‘‘We are so fortunate to live in such a great, giving and caring community,’’ Wall said.
Unwanted goods mounting
Meanwhile an increase in unsaleable items being given to St Vincent de Paul op shop has led to a decision to stop accepting large bags of items from next week.
The increased volume of clothing being donated included more stained, dirty or smelly items.
It will still accept small bags, or boxes of donations.
Shop manager Donna Collins said if people would not pay money for an item they dropped off, then it was not likely to be wanted at an op shop.
It was a sentiment reiterated by other op shops in the district. Those that responded to The Ashburton Courier said more dirty, broken and unsaleable items were being dropped off at their shops.
However, many of them were still accepting large bags of donations.
Hospice shop manager Janis Steel said they did not turn donations away as ‘‘you never know what may be among items being dropped off’’.
The removal of the clothing bins in Mid Canterbury was one of the reasons St John shop manager Tracey Mewes believes they had received more items lately that they could not sell.
Mewes said they had to sometimes turn away donations because they did not have the storage space.
Methven Red Cross president Mary Kermode said they had received an influx of non saleable baby items and some items they could not accept, such as electrical items.
‘‘We don’t accept electrical items due to the cost of having someone certified to check them. We can direct people wanting to donate these items to shops that can accept them,’’ Mary said.
The increase in unsaleable goods comes at cost to the op shops in dump charges.
‘‘We dump two large red bins of rubbish a week and then fill 6 by 8 skip bins with unsaleable items,’’ Mary said.
After the ski season, it often saw a large increase of items being donated.
‘‘In some cases we have house lots of items coming in, like unwashed sheets straight off a bed,’’ Mary said.
With no dump in Methven and limited items accepted for recycling, the Red Cross shop has been used by people wanting to dispose of rubbish.
All the op shops were grateful for the good quality items they did receive from the community.
