“Thank you for your gently used donations. No thank you to your worn-out junk.”
That is the message coming from staff and volunteers at Thrifty Treasures Thrift Store in downtown Trail, who week after week, waste their energy going through useless items left as a “goodwill” drop-off for the shop.
“Every Monday we are dealing with this, stuff spread all over and putting our staff at risk,” says Sheila Adcock, manager at Career Development Services (CDS).
“We appreciate your donations, but this is what happens to them when you drop items off when we are closed. Most of this stuff has been walked over, it’s all muddy, broken, needles are mixed in etc., so so so sad,” she said.
“And there are people who don’t want to pay at the dump, dropping off their garbage. I mean there’s ripped clothes, dirty clothes, toys, you wouldn’t believe it. There are so many hours spent cleaning by our staff and taking it to the dump ourselves.”
Only gently used goods can be resold at the store.
Further, all donations should only be dropped off after 10 a.m. and before 2 p.m. Monday to Friday. These are the hours that staff is in to process and sort through the items.
Located next to the Riverfront Centre, the thrift store will also be open every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. until the end of month.
“We are open Saturday for the month of October to raise awareness for ‘Getting to Home,’” Adcock said, referring to a Greater Trail housing program.
“We are also having $5 bag days, to try to clear some stuff out. Everything else in the store is by donation.”
Adcock says the Thrifty Treasures team can always use more helping hands. Anyone interested is encouraged to contact CDS at 250.364.1104.
The Thrifty Treasures Thrift Store has been operated by CDS since 2005.
This site supports approximately 12 individuals to build their skills and self-confidence in a thrift store setting where they learn integral skills such as communication, professional interaction, cash handling, merchandising, problem solving, organizing stock and learning to work in a team environment.
They can then use these skills to secure mainstream employment within the community.
Getting to Home is a locally run program that helps house individuals who are either homeless, episodically homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless with an eviction notice in hand. The demographic includes single mothers with infants, families and youth.
The housing facilitator at the CDS office in Trail meets with 100 people each year, on average.
