So much more than a donation
Please note that as we have just reopened, our donation team is receiving an influx of donations from over the holiday period, we ask that you are patient with our team as they try their best to sort through all our donations or early closures.
Why your donation matters
Helping Hands is a local not-for-profit organisation supporting families across Melbourne’s north-west. Through the generosity of people like you, we operate three Op Shops that help fund our Emergency Food Relief and Material Aid programs.
We don’t receive government funding—our lifeline is the support of the community. Your donation helps provide food, furniture, and essentials to local families doing it tough. Whether you give goods, groceries or money, you're offering hope and dignity to someone who needs it.
Different ways to give
We gladly accept most good-quality items to sell in our Op Shops, however please note all items dropped off are at our teams’ discretion. Sales from our Op Shops directly fund the support we provide to local families in need.
Please note that as we have just reopened, our donation team is receiving an influx of donations and we ask that you are patient with our team as they try their best to sort through all our donations.
Donation drop off hours
Monday to Saturday, 9.30am - 3.30pm (subject to intake)
Want to donate large furniture?
We collect large furniture in good condition 10km out from our Airport West store and 5km out from Sunshine and Preston. Please note that due to our limited resources and small team, we are unable to collect smaller items such as clothing and household goods, and ask that these are dropped off at your nearest store.
Request a large furniture collection here via email
More information on why we can’t accept everything
Donating goods and furniture
Community Pantries reopening January 12th 2026 from 10am.
Our Sunshine and Airport West Community Pantries support 500+ families every week! If you’d like to contribute to directly making an impact to the families and helping to fill our shelves and their food parcels, pantry staples can be donated.
We accept:
Non-perishable food items
Perishable goods (if delivered in person)
Toiletries and household basics
You can drop these off at either our Sunshine or Airport West Pantry between 10am - 3pm from January 12th or to our team members at our stores.
Are you a business and interested in donating stock? Fill out this form and let's work together to support local families.
Pantry food donations
Get your school, workplace, or community group involved and help make a real difference!
Whether you’re keen to run a one-off donation drive or something longer term, we’ve got everything you need to get started. We can supply portable wheelie bins, steel donation bins, or even our iconic blue donation bags for a quick and easy campaign.
Just send us an email to let us know you're interested, and someone from the Helping Hands team will be in touch to help you set it up!
Enquire about running a clothing or food drive for us here >
Running a food or clothing drive
Your financial support directly funds our Emergency Food Relief and Furniture & Essentials Assistance Programs. By donating financially, you’re directly impacting individuals and families through our Community Pantry and our Material Aid program. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.
Prefer to donate via bank transfer, card payment or over phone? Just complete the contact us enquiry form below and we’ll get in touch.
Make a financial donation
Why we can’t always take everything — and how that helps families in need
We’re incredibly grateful for your generosity. Every donation helps us keep quality items out of landfill and raises vital funds through our op shops. The proceeds from these op shops go directly to our community pantries, providing food to around 150 families each day. By ensuring we stock quality goods in our op shops, these items are more likely to sell, which means more funds to support families facing hardships.
While we’d love to accept everything, we sometimes can’t. This may be because:
It isn’t in a condition that we can pass on – we can only sell items that are safe, clean, and ready for a new owner to enjoy.
Our stock of this item is currently full – sometimes our shelves are full, and we need to pause accepting certain things until there’s room again.
It’s not something we can sell – from our 18 years of experience, we’ve learned that some items just don’t sell in our op shops, and keeping them takes up valuable space.
With limited space in our op shops and warehouses, we need to make sure every donation has the best chance of finding a new home. Thank you for understanding—and for helping us make every donation count!