Charity group of Grumpy Old Men fighting back after being targeted by thieves

February 13, 2020

Every day they break down old household items and sell the scrap for charity.

The self-described Grumpy Old Men are a group of elderly gentlemen who are big players on the Whanganui charity circuit. But lately, they've been targeted by petty criminals.

Every day, the group of men break down old household items, sell the scrap metal and give the money to schools, kindys and other organisations.

Everything gets used, even down to the screws.

"They all add up in weight and they all come out as money," one surly gentleman told Seven Sharp.

Over the last four years, they've contributed $131,000 to the community.

When asked why they've stuck with it for so long, one man had a sharp response.

"You'd get driven mad waiting for God! You gotta do something!" he says.

But around once a week, they're getting targeted by thieves.

"They come into the yard and because the stuff is outside, I suppose they can think they can help themselves, but they're basically depriving kids of money," organiser Jim O'Neill told Seven Sharp.

"I hate thieves and I think we all do. One of the sad parts is because we give to the schools and kindergartens, some of these people might have kids that will benefit from this."

But these junk-sorting gentlemen have had enough; a recent robbery forced them to take action.

"We got brave and we actually put two of them on Facebook. They got ratted out, by their own community."

They found the perpetrators of the latest robbery and managed to get everything back.

Even better, the grouchiness is spreading around the country.

"Whangārei, Napier, Katikati, Tauranga, Gisborne, Nelson. They called us up and wanted to have a look at our operation so that there was a possibility they could set one up in their area."

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