"Take what you need": Man's selfless act despite threat of hefty fine
A man from Sydney - who goes by Michael - has been hard at work helping his community as Australians all over struggle through the nation’s ongoing cost of living crisis.
The 46-year-old hotel worker has been saving discarded food from the bins outside of his local supermarkets in the inner west, and offering the produce to people to come and pick up as much as they’re in need of.
To Facebook, he shares pictures of his collection, as well as captions like his most recent, in which he wrote, “good morning neighbours, I put these out this morning before I left for work.”
The photo showed a pile of bread, vegetables, and other party staples sorted in crates on his porch, ready to head home with those in need. And for his selfless deed, Michael only asked one thing, that people “please only take what you need and consider others who come after you.”
As Michael told Sky News, he first came up with the idea for the venture after he was introduced to ‘dumpster diving’ in July 2022, and couldn’t believe the quantity of produce and waste that was going into the supermarket bins.
“I knew about dumpster diving but I had never done it," he said.
"Then one day I met a guy who showed me the supermarket bins and I went, 'oh wow'."
It was only a matter of time before Michael caught the attention of a fruit and vegetable vendor, who chose to offer Michael his leftover produce.
“That was when I started helping out the community,” Michael explained, “because I was then given so much."
And since October of the same year, Michael has been able to provide dozens of boxes worth of fruit, vegetables, and bread to others.
“The reception has been amazing,” he added. "I feel good that I can help in any way I can to reduce their grocery budget and help move short dated or excess stock, the food gets taken pretty quickly."
However, while the community have heaped praise upon him for his kind ways, his local shopping centre had more in the way of threats in store rather than thanks.
Instead, the security have threatened him with a “$1,000 fine and a 12-month ban” if he is caught rummaging through their bins again.
As he explained it, “I and many others have now been slapped with a ban from shopping malls because management do not like the public going through their bins.”
Images: Facebook