Two people who collected donations for a neighbour who had lost her belongings in a fire days before Christmas are now facing criminal charges for allegedly keeping some of the donated items.

An early morning fire on Dec. 21, 2015, gutted a Southvale Crescent townhouse where an Ottawa woman lived with her son and his girlfriend.

A neighbour of the family said at the time she was collecting donations for the family and Ottawa police say the public stepped up and gave various items with the intention of helping the family.

But not all the donations went to the family, police said.

Police have charged a 38-year-old woman and a 44-year-old man each with three counts of obtaining not more than $5,000 by false pretence, and one charge of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Ottawa police said they are looking for help finding people who may have provided donations and specifically "what was donated, and to whom they were dropped off."