Frequently Asked Questions

MSFIN is very grateful to receive items gifted by the community. We gratefully accept the following;

• Quality second hand clothing for children, teens, ladies and men
• Cots and clean cot mattresses * – cot must meet strict safety standards.
• Car seats * – must be less than 8 years old and meet strict safety standards.
• Bassinets * – must have sides that are at least 30cm high.
• High chairs * – must have a 5 point safety harness.
• Prams * – must have 5 point harness, seat belt must be intact and no mould.
• Change tables * – must meet safety standards.
• Shoes in all sizes
• Linen – clean and undamaged.
• Baby Essentials – baths, maternity essentials, bouncers etc
• Safety gates.
• Food items – unopened and in date.
• Nappies – open packets are fine.
• Toiletries – unopened and in date.
• Money and gifts cards
• Brand new toys
• Feeding essentials – microwave sterilisers, new bottles and teats.( * denotes safety standards apply – refer to our Safety Standards)

• Preloved toys, soft toys and outside toys (bikes, scooters)
• Preloved underpants and bathers
• Electrical items and whitegoods
• Furniture, kitchen and homewares
• Bath aids and walkers
• Nursery and home décor items
• Portacots and pre-loved pillows
• Pools, swimming and floatation aids

If possible, you can deliver directly at the MSFIN HQ at 2/7 Sir Laurence Drive in Seaford. This means we can redistribute your gifted items quicker. If you are not local or are unable to attend the warehouse during our opening times, send us an email via contact@msfin.org.au and we can direct you to one of our 30+ satellite drop off points.

Yes please! If you can you have cleaned and washed your donations before passing them on to us, it means our volunteers can get the aid out to families in crisis that much quicker! It would also be really helpful if you could pre-sort your clothing donations into bags marked by age, gender and season (summer/winter). That would save our volunteers a lot of time.

There’s a few ways you can gift your goods to MSFIN.

1. Deliver to MSFIN HQ, 2/7 Sir Laurence Drive in Seaford
2. Deliver to one of our Drop Off Points
3. If your items aren’t too large or heavy, you can always pop them in the post and send to MSFIN, PO Box 2189 Seaford Victoria 3198

Sometimes we are offered items which we have to politely decline. This can be due to many reasons but the main ones are as follows;

• It is not part of our insurance guidelines – for example we are not insured to distribute electrical items and therefore we cannot accept these items

• It does not meet Australian Voluntary Safety Standards – At MSFIN, we pride ourselves on distributing the safest nursery furniture and travel essentials. If your item doesn’t meet these standards, we cannot re-home it and this will mean we have to incur disposal costs

• We simply don’t have the space – due to the fluctuating nature of our donated items, sometimes we have to pause certain items because we physically do not have the space to store them.

MSFIN works on a referral only basis. What does this mean? It means requests for assistance from MSFIN can only be made by one of over 200 case workers from 80 + welfare agencies registered with MSFIN. This ensures vulnerable families are able to receive a holistic assessment and referrals can be made for any other support needed by families including financial counselling, mental health support, housing support and more.

Another important reason we operate this way is to ensure that items supplied by MSFIN are going to families in legitimate need, and this assures our donors that their donated items are being used in the spirit in which they were given.

Absolutely. From as little as two hours per week, you can help make a difference. There’s loads of different ways volunteers can support MSFIN. Check out our volunteer page for more info

Every dollar donated to MSFIN helps provide vulnerable children, young people and families with access to much needed material aid:

• Clothing for the family
• Baby essentials (formula, cots, prams, car seats, high chairs, nappies)
• Bedding
• Pantry items (staples such as rice, pasta, cereals, long life milk, coffee, tea, biscuits)
• Cleaning products

Most definitely. MSFIN is a registered not-for-profit and all donations over $2.00 are tax deductible. Donate today!

If you’d like to volunteer, please visit our Volunteer with Us page.
If your business would like to get involved, please visit our Corporate Giving page.
if your agency would like to partner with us, please visit our Work with Us page.
If you’d like to donate (time, money, goods), please visit our Donate page.

If you are in need of support, contact your local community support centre. If you are unsure where your local community support centre is, visit www.cisvic.org.au or contact your local council for more information.