In short:
The Daylesford Community Op Shop has temporarily closed due to a donation infested with bed bugs.
The store has lost thousands of dollars’ worth of items and spent about $3,000 on cleaning services so far.
What’s next?
The store cannot reopen until two further deep cleans have been completed and there are fears the financial impact will be too much to overcome.
A volunteer opened a bag that seemed to include some type of fabric when she received a nasty shock.
A swarm of large bed bugs immediately crawled up her arm.
“She didn’t even get a chance to put her hands in the bag when they ran up her arm,” volunteer Michelle Clifford said.
“She’s traumatised and has bites everywhere.”Gross and unfortunate. When I worked in donations a long time ago we got a few big bags of dirty underwear and socks. People need to get better about disposal vs thrifting dangerous things.
