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HO HO HO HO HO!
Well here we are again — November 1st, and volunteers at the Thrift Shops for Nova are well into the work of displaying Christmas items for our customers. You’ve certainly started to see the evidence in our boutiques!
Last Monday, in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, we did a blitz to prepare, along with lights and decorations, our accumulation of Christmas wreaths and garlands — we must have prepared almost 50 of them! So, yes, if you need one for this year, now you have the best possible selection to choose from. Prices range, in general, from about $3.00 to $15.00.
But, don’t despair if “yours” is gone – I’m sure there will be even more come in. Soon.
You see, the thing about Christmas at our Thrift Shops is that it never seems to stop. We can never actually catch up! All year long the Christmas ornaments, and trees, and wreaths, and lights, and bobbles and bangles roll in. And just before and just after Christmas, they multiply many fold. Our sorting and storage areas are swamped to overflowing, making it difficult to actually work around the “Christmas stuff.”
Indeed, soon there will be “no room at the inn.”
So, since not too many customers buy Christmas items in February, we work more frantically than ever to get our goodies out for sale in November.
For your viewing pleasure, here are two images of some of last year’s collection waiting to be priced and displayed for sale.
Yes, indeed, this is today’s reality: the more we buy, the more we eventually discard.
As our volunteers daily witness these signs of our constant consumption, we can at times feel discouraged: this is such a waste of the earth’s resources. But from another perspective, we make the very best of the situation. As a non-profit organization, we are so very appreciative because we know that everyone truly benefits. Yes, when we receive your generous donations and pass them on to our customers at fair prices, we are keeping these items out of the land fill; we are giving you a place to both donate and shop; and to boot, we raise much needed funds for health-care in our community.
It is a win-win-win situation.
Thank you.
Au Secours: A Message From Our President
Thrift shops for Nova needs your help at our Ste Anne de Bellevue location.
Are there any kindly local souls willing to donate a few hours of their busy weekends to a very worthy cause?
What we need are friendly greeters on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 1 to 4.
These volunteers would both welcome our customers and receive our donors’ items. When the donation bins are full, these greeters would then transfer them through to the sorting room for processing.
Thank you for considering this important position.
Please contact the volunteer staff at our Ste. Anne location to provide us with your contact information.
What Do our Sorters Do?
The sorters in the back rooms are a well-oiled machine, decorated with a splash of colourful chaos.
As such, we are ready for the challenge of receiving almost any type of donated goods you can provide us with. Indeed, we do everything possible to see these much-appreciated items go out to our customers ASAP. That is our goal.
Under normal circumstances, when your donations are in good condition, the turn-around time from you to the buyer is speedy and efficient, requiring almost no “re-conditioning.” We may do a little cleaning, laundering or minor repairs to make the items attractive, but due to time constraints we must keep this to a minimum. So when we deem it necessary, we pass on items to other charities. We value our customers and want all our products to be customer-worthy.
This picture, though, is quite a bit different after the time of our half-price sales. That is indeed a sight to behold!
Early, on the Monday mornings after our 50% off weekends, when the stores are closed, a team of exhausted volunteers moves in and gets to work! In the case of clothing, we clear out at lot of the end-of-season stock that hasn’t sold at half-price and move the items over to the bargain alley at drastically reduced prices (50 cents!) or send them on to other charities. Then we bring out closets-full of newly prepared items for your selection.
In other departments too, we change the sticker to indicate the new half/or lower price. or give them a second life in Ste. Anne’s bargain alley. This is the case for many of our silver-plated pieces. How about a fancy, $2.00 silver-plated tea-pot to hang in your garden as a bird-house? Or a bundle of silver-plated cutlery to make a lovely wind-chime? The options for crafty people are endless!
The goal is a transformation of our boutiques for Tuesday’s door-opening at 10:00.
Stay tuned for an upcoming post about the work associated with major holidays like Halloween and Christmas.
Posted in 50% off, Bargain Alley, Behind the Scenes, Customers, donations, Volunteers
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Thrift Shops for Nova Volunteers? What Do They Do?
We who volunteer at the Thrift Shops for Nova take on a variety of tasks.
For your appreciation, here is an incomplete sampling of our regular challenges.
Our continued dedication contributes to raising much needed funds for our foundation, Ste. Anne Volunteers Health Support Foundation/Fondation d’Entraide en Santé des Bénévole de Ste-Anne.
In case you didn’t know.
