BENDIGO residents have won praise for the quality of their op shop donations from a well-know charity.
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The St Vincent de Paul Society has thanked donors for quality donations, which it says allow it to raise more money to help people in need.
It comes as a St Vincent representative said it was seeing a lot of new people needing assistance, as they fell outside of government support criteria.
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St Vincent's Commercial Services executive general manager Jeff Antcliff said the trend in quality goods dated from when opshops started to accept donations again in October.
But he said it was part of a consistent improvement in donation quality over the past four years.
Mr Antcliff said thanked the people of Bendigo for the lift in quality donations.
"We believe that people have taken the time during this period of COVID and ... Christmas to really look at [their] donations, and they've really listened to us," he said.
"The [message] we want to send out to everyone is if it's good enough to give to your family, it's good enough to give to Vinnies."
Read more: Op shops offer more than just a bargain
Mr Antcliff said an improvement in donations was a statewide trend, but volunteers had told him the same thing when he recently visited Bendigo.
He said St Vincent's was also seeing fewer people leaving goods unattended outside op shops, which often led to damage, and donations going to waste.
Mr Antcliff said St Vincent's was seeing more people such as casual workers in need of financial help, as they fell outside of government support areas.
"The whole reason Vinnies shops exist is to help people in need. We provide goods to people in need and we sell goods to help people in need in the local community," he said.
"The more we can [sell goods], the more funds we generate the more we can help people with food, with accommodation security, with education costs, utility bills."
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