Charity donation bins in Windsor and Essex County are being used as garbage dumps.

The St. Vincent de Paul society has issued a call to stop the illegal dumping at its 35 bins. It's a problem that costs the charity more than $5,000 last year.

General manager Alexis Strahl said she often finds — and is grateful for — usable donations. But she also finds garbage in the bins.

'We've even had garbage bags of meat.'— Alexis Strahl, St. Vincent de Paul Society

"Everything from mattresses that are dirty [to] broken furniture. We've even had garbage bags of meat," she said.

At a box in Tecumseh, someone recently left a mess of clothes and toys strewn outside the bin. There were also two toilets.

"It costs us every time we have to go to the dump just like everyone else," Strahl said.

"I think it's terrible," said Denise Rychel, who was dropping items off at a bin Tuesday. "It's a good cause for people to recycle things that are in good condition and people are taking advantage of it."

The problem is not limited to St. Vincent de Paul. The Canadian Diabetes Association has the same problem.

"For example, a driveway of concrete was left at our drop box and we had to take it to a landfill to dispose of it," said Anita Wall of the Canadian Diabetes Clothesline.

The charity drop boxes are for clothes, shoes and small items. If people have something larger, charities will pick them up. They won't accept mattresses.

Strahl said some of the items are left in good faith, but she gets very upset by people who simply use the charity as their garbage hauler.

"They don't realize that the dollars they're forcing a registered charity to spend on their garbage is actually a dollar taken away from feeding their neighbour," she said.

Crimestoppers encourages people to call police with a license plate number if they see someone dumping unwanted material at clothing bins.

In Windsor, there's a city bylaw against dumping that prescribes a $130 ticket.