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Thefts, dumping put strain on Re-Use-It Centre

Infractions have become a nightly occurrence Maureen Liddy has been reduced scheduling staff to come in an hour before the Re-Use-It Centre opens so they can clean up the mess left by marauders the previous night.

Infractions have become a nightly occurrence

Maureen Liddy has been reduced scheduling staff to come in an hour before the Re-Use-It Centre opens so they can clean up the mess left by marauders the previous night.

Thieves rip open garbage bags full of clothes donated to the centre, taking the items they want and leaving the rest strewn around the outside of the Function Junction building. They load select pieces of furniture and sporting equipment into the backs of trucks. Sometimes they take everything. And sometimes they vandalize the site before they leave.

"These are things the public donates in good faith to our organization and to do some good," said Re-Use-It Centre co-ordinator Liddy. "I don’t think people would be pleased that their donations aren’t going where they’re wanted to go, to where they’re needed.

"The thieves are getting the first pick out of the donations, taking the items we could sell more easily."

The Re-Use-It Centre is operated by the Whistler Community Services Society. Funds raised from the sale of donated items support the society’s programs, including the Whistler Food Bank, emergency assistance, Santa’s Helpers, parenting and relationship workshops, Whistlers AIDS Resource, the Community Kitchen, the Young Adult Partnership Program, home visit volunteers, parent-infant drop-in, the Crisis Line (604-932-COPE), and the counselling fund.

Things like lamps, mirrors, small furniture items and sporting goods – what Liddy says are big ticket items for the centre that fetch a higher price – are the first to go missing.

"We make decent money for these things that goes to the Community Services Society. You just don’t make as much selling a two dollar T-shirt."

She is worried that many of the thieves are turning around and reselling the items to stores in the city, essentially profiting from a local charity that supports low-income families.

The other issue is dumping, whereby people leave broken appliances, sofas, and other materials at the site that the Re-Use-It Centre is forced to transport to the municipal dump with the help of volunteer workers.

"The Grocery Store and World Mark have been great, donating their trucks and employees to make runs to the dump, but instead of one trip they’re making five and six trips. It’s a lot to ask from volunteers," said Liddy.

While both theft and dumping have occurred in the past at the Re-Use-It Centre, Liddy says things started to get worse about six months ago. Thefts are now a nightly occurrence at the centre, and the cost of dumping large items has climbed to more than $100 a week.

The centre has tried to discourage both in the past with signs and chains marking the property boundaries, but the signs and chain fence were stolen. They have spoken to the RCMP about the issue, but have so far been reluctant to go the distance.

"We’d spend more time in court pressing charges than we would at the store, where we’re needed," said Liddy.

"I’ve taken night drives to the site and I’ve caught people in the act. Our customers have caught people. We’ve held back from getting the police involved in the past, but if we see the same people again and again, we won’t have a choice but to call the RCMP," she said.

The Re-Use-It Centre is also talking to local security companies to find out what options exist for the centre.

Some of the excuses they have heard from thieves is that they the items would have gone to the trash anyway, and that they are needy themselves.

"We believe a lot of people who donate items would donate them to groups in the city because they believe in helping the community and low-income families, so that excuse doesn’t really hold water," said Liddy.

As for the argument that people are stealing items because they are needy, "the whole idea of the Community Services Society is to help people who are in need. All they would have to do is come talk to us, tell us what they need, and we would be able to do something to help," she said.

The Re-Use-It Centre has already installed a container on one side of the building, and encouraging people dropping off bags of items after business areas to use it instead of leaving them outside of the building.

For small furniture items, and other donations of value that don’t fit in the container, she is asking people to try to make donations during business hours, between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. seven days a week.

As for larger items, the Re-Use-it Centre doesn’t accept things like couches, mattresses and appliances even during business hours because they don’t have the facilities to repair or store them.

Instead, they are creating a bulletin board where people can advertise larger items for sale in exchange for a donation to the Re-Use-It Centre. The Community Services Society will then issue a tax receipt for that donation.

The centre is also working on some new permanent signage for the site warning thieves about their actions and clarifying what items the Re-Use-It Centre accepts.

"We hope that this will get the message out and discourage a lot of people from stealing and dumping, but if it doesn’t we’re going to have to take some steps we’d rather not have to take," said Liddy.

The Re-Use-It Centre entered its third year of operation in March.