An Amherstview charity organization has been the subject of repeated acts of illegal dumping and theft.
The Loyalist Community Sharing Centre has been a dumping ground for some people in the community, who are leaving their garbage and other items in front of the building.
“Our facility is very small,” says Guy Aubin, assistant co-ordinator at the centre.
“We’ve got signs outside that say no appliances, no mattresses, anything like that. That’s getting dumped all the time. It’s disgusting, and it’s a mess.”
Not only has garbage been dumped in front of the centre’s donation bins, but people have dumped garbage inside them too.
Staff at the centre say they have found some crazy things inside these bins over the years.
“We’ve had bags that had cat litter and feces in it,” says Ruth Windatt, treasurer for the LCSC.
“We’ve had one person drop off camping supplies, and in those supplies were guns.”
The Loyalist Community Sharing Centre is a hub in Amherstview that distributes food to those in need free of charge and operates a thrift store.
People can drop off used items to be sold to those in need in the community, but even the donation bins aren’t safe.
“Last week we had a break-in,” says Aubin.
“They came and cut the locks off, took all the clothing out of there, spread them all over the place. Just emptied them out and grabbed whatever they wanted to keep. Or just vandalism, just leaving it there.”
Even with newly installed security cameras, the dumping and theft keep happening.
The centre says it filed a complaint with the OPP last week in hopes that they might be able to do something to put a stop to the repeated dumping of junk.