Tara Murray
Winter has only just begun and Helping Hands Mission op shops are already struggling to keep up with the demand for winter stock.
The Mission, which has six op shops including in Sunshine and Roxburgh Park, has a lack of winter clothes, shoes and linen and is calling on donations to help those who are less fortunate.
Mission chief executive Melanie Kent said they had never seen anything like this before in the nearly 15 years the mission has been running.
“We normally gain our resources in the opposite seasons,” she said.
“We normally get our winter stuff at the start of summer and stock bags and bags.
“This is the first time we’ve had to put our hand up and say we want help
“Our issue is, we’re not even in winter and we’re running out of winter stock.”
Ms Kent said they had received a large amount of stock after last year’s lockdown, but the demand for items hadn’t dropped in the last seven months.
“We’re operating with record sales.”
Ms Kent said they had heard other op shops, both small and large, had significant winter stock and couldn’t take any more.
She said wanted people to know they were still after donations.
Things they were after included warm clothes, pajamas, children’s clothes and linen. She said they were also after heaters, with the mission having a test and tag program.
Ms Kent said they would take donations at all their stores and would be happy to pick up donations from people who can’t drop them off.
