Vinnies opened a new store in Braddon last year. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Change is hard. We all know that.
And ‘business is business’ would be the other axiom that applies to the tender lost by the Green Shed this week for recycling goods at Canberra’s tips.
I’ve been around long enough to remember when Revolve lost the same tender to the Green Shed and there were similar howls of outrage. This time, Catholic charity Vinnies won a competitive open tender process with the ACT Government.
They will keep the current tip operations open and have offered to absorb the jobs when the Green Shed owners exit the business.
The Green Shed has done a fine job over the past 13 years. The owners and team have been generous community donors, friendly faces and a reliable source of all sorts of odds and ends that delight the hearts of collectors and scavengers alike.
They’re good people and deserve the love the community gives them. They know their trash and delving into their stock turns up treasures (including some of my furniture).
But the Green Shed is not a charity; it’s a privately owned business that engaged in a competitive tender process. As happens with these things, they lost the tender because Vinnies was able to show a better return for the ACT Government.
Plenty of commenters have alleged this is all, somehow, the ACT Government’s fault. How would people react if the Vinnies’ tender offered demonstrably better value but lost out for no apparent reason?
There’s also anger over the perception that Vinnies will hike prices and exercise unfair control over the op shop market. Apparently, the Salvos and Vinnies are now running an anti-competitive duopoly, cornering the market like Coles and Woolies.
Vinnies op shops serve a dual purpose. If you are hard-up and need help, you’ll get it from them without question.
But Vinnies ACT also raise funds for multiple community services across the ACT and southeastern NSW, like all other Vinnies around Australia.
These services include crisis support, youth programs, residential homelessness services, disability services, support programs for young parents and families at risk of homelessness, and drug and alcohol services.
If you’re in the inner north, you’ve likely seen their van feeding some of Canberra’s most vulnerable locals at Dickson shops. The Vinnies Night Patrol operates in Canberra and Queanbeyan 364 nights of the year, handing out drinks, sandwiches, fruit, clothing items, sleeping bags, blankets and hygiene packs, and providing referral services.
Vinnies ran a two-year Bushfire Appeal supporting disaster recovery in the Bega Valley, Eurobodalla and the Snowy Valleys, including community cohesion and well-being events, community development, assistance with grant applications and community skills development.
They support migrant children integrating into Australian education and run programs for young carers between nine and 17 years, ensuring they have support to complete their education. And there’s plenty more.
Where do people think the funding for all this comes from? The magic money tree? Or a successful retail operation with plenty of energetic fundraising?
So yes, buying cheap clothes and gently used goods from Vinnies is valuable to those on a tight budget, but Vinnies also needs to fund an extensive range of services it offers to this community as a public good, regardless of your background (and with no regard whatsoever for your religious beliefs or lack of them).
There’s sometimes an odd perception that charity is less genuine when it’s well-organised and well-run.
We love generous people who give their all. But the truth is that small organisations and sole operators often burn out or fall apart. They can work too hard, lose perspective, and risk not being able to scale up their work for lasting impact.
Vinnies does a power of good in this community. A successful business tender, like a successful retail operation, guarantees that work can continue for many years to come.
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