'It was greed, not need': Kiwi's anger as women steal from her homeless charity

New Zealand-born Kelly Warren goes above and beyond to help those who need it through her Melbourne-based non-profit organisation, BK 2 Basics.

The family-run charity looks after what it calls its "homeless family" by creating personal hygiene kits, healthy food hampers, and providing fruit to schools.

But Ms Warren was left shocked after discovering two women had taken advantage of her organisation's generosity.

The Kiwi took to the BK 2 Basics Facebook page yesterday, sharing security footage that show two females rifling through multiple boxes of goods underneath tables that'd been set up for donations.

They then can be seen making a quick exit.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time an incident like this has happened - but it is the first time Ms Warren has posted security footage on her Facebook page.

"I've always thought of the bigger picture, and thought about things like their children getting bullied," she told Newshub.

This incident was different for Ms Warren; she knew the women had disrespected the charity's policies.

"They didn't take any vegetables, they ignored the signs that are everywhere and on the Facebook page - they knew exactly what they were doing."

The charity has a policy: you are able to take whatever items are on top of the table, but nothing underneath.

Ms Warren was diagnosed with cervical cancer last year, and says that when she had to leave the charity for long periods of time for treatment, nothing was ever taken.

"I don't do greed - 95 percent of people respect our rules. The others who don't are usually the ones who don't need it."

The women took three boxes of bottled water and half a box of Fanta, both of which had just been dropped off that morning.

"You can get bottled water from the tap; the bottled water is specifically for our homeless family, and everybody knows this."

BK 2 Basics help hundreds of rough sleepers every week, many of them New Zealanders who have no access to benefits in Australia.

The video has received over 50,000 views and over 600 comments, all expressing outrage at the thieves. All commenters agreed it was an act of greed, and that the thieves' behaviour was "shameful".

Other users that had been helped by the charity in the past said that the video "made them sick".

"You guys have helped my family out so much over the last few months... seeing this breaks my heart.

"I can't believe someone has so little morality to steal from a charity for the homeless and financially disadvantaged. This is a horrible thing to see, it honestly shakes me to the core."

Ms Warren asked the police if she could post the video on the organisation's Facebook page, and they encouraged her to do so.

After posting, the women were identified within five minutes.

One of the women messaged Ms Warren, and denied that they had taken anything they were not entitled to.

"She turned it around on me and said she had only stolen three packets of biscuits. You can see from the video that they do not just have three packets of biscuits."

Ms Warren won't press charges, as she believes the video on Facebook is "punishment enough".

Newshub.