Syringe sting

By Bridget Cook
THE Cranbourne Salvation Army has warned people to be wary of what they put in the donation bins, after syringes were found last week.
Cranbourne captain Kelvin Young said when volunteers emptied the bin last week, a whole heap of rubbish and about 30 needles were inside.
“We get rubbish in the bins quite often,” he said. “Some people just use us as a dumping ground for their rubbish.
“Sometimes people don’t want to pay the tip fees so instead they use us.
“It gives you a bit of a fright when you find things like syringes.
“It endangers the lives of our volunteers.”
Mr Young said people dumping mattresses were another problem.
“Despite having signs up that say ‘no mattresses’, people still dump them at the bins,” he said.
“We are actually not allowed to take mattress for Occupational Health and Safety reasons.
“When people dump them, we then have to get rid of them ourselves which costs money, which could be used for better things.”
Mr Young said when people used the donation bins for the wrong reasons, it had a bad effect on the Salvation Army.
“The donation bin is for people to put secondhand clothes in so we can sell them at our op shop,” he said.
“The money raised then goes to those in need.
“We shouldn’t have to spend money to get rid of people’s mattresses and endanger our volunteers’ lives.”