Recently i was made aware that there were ideas or opinions and definately misconceptions about how my shop is financially supported so to make sure there is NO MISINFORMATION {because i am a say what i mean and mean what i say type of girl} This is the story of The Thrift Shop 222 located at 503 Highway 59 in Queen City directly across from the sno cone stand. Is a valuable resource to the community. We assist those that are in emergency crisis situations. Fire, domestic violence and victims of natural disasters {tornados, hurricanes etc} the homeless, family members who have unexpectedly gained custody of children etc. I provide clothing, shoes, household items, some furniture (as available) small kitchen appliances, dishes, pots and pans, sheets, blankets, diapers, formula, and baby items and too much more to list. ALL COMPLETELY FREE. I am able to do so because we have a store room with these items in the back that we get from people who have ended a garage sale or have had a loved one to pass and bring us the still usable but unwanted items. I also go to garage sales, shop on facebook buy,sell and trade pages as well as estate sales and flea markets. We are NOT affiliated with NOR do we receive ANY assistance from any organizations. I Have had my shop for 14 years. 12yrs in our old location and over 2 yrs in the new one. I HAVE VOLUNTEERS WITHOUT WHOM I COULD NEVER EVEN OPEN MY DOORS Edith Westbrook and Eris Parker. There are many more but these 2 are my constant and I am at a loss for words to even think of life or the shop without them. none of us get paid we all work together for the good of those in need. until this past year, Ive never kept count of how many people I was able to assist, however, since opening in the new shop we have assisted well over 1,000 families to date! that is not individuals those are entire families! Unfortunately, we are not in a position to have a free building, utilities or expenses so {since i am not a millionaire} I have to sell items in the shop to pay for everything, The items we sell are, clothing, Jewelry and shoes. Sometimes we sell home décor or the odd piece of furniture. The reality is,no matter how good of a deed i am doing if people dont want what i have they will not come in the shop. So, to be able to keep us running and not have to pay for everything out of my pocket I took my own money and started buying brand new items from the wholesale market to sell which would draw people in. All of the proceeds from the new items go to buy new items for the next month! This is how i am able to sell my new items at such a reasonable price! I have NEVER said the shop doesnt make money. I have only said I DONT GET PAID! there is a difference. I also sell used clothes , (at garage sale prices) to those that are not in need, so that I may be able to help those that ARE in need. The clothing items donated are sorted into 2 piles {usable and non usable} the usable ones get hung up but not all are sold. if someone comes in that is in need they choose for free from these racks as well as the ones who would like to buy something. The unusable pile gets bagged up daily and is set aside until Fridays when Big Brothers Big Sisters in Texarkana comes with a big truck to pick up our bags. Those bags are taken to their warehouse and weighed and we are given a credit of .20 per lb. when that credit reaches $500 they call and let me know. This is something totally separate we do to help those in need of other than clothing items. in addition to our daily giving at the shop. Instead of keeping the money for the shop or myself {which I can and have a right to do} I have given away every penny. we have a list of those in critical need and it gets updated every 2 months. I let them {big brothers big sisters} know each time who to make the check out to. these are individual fundraisers we do for those in emergency crisis situations, such as someone is dying and has no burial insurance, going to chemo and having to choose between food and a trip to get chemo, house fire, terminally ill patient who cannot pay basic utilities. etc. We DO NOT have a bank account with money in it that we write checks for these families out of. each family is given a check written by big brothers big sisters based on a cloth fundraiser we do for them each individually. Make no mistake Big brothers is not donating the money to these families I am. We are selling them our unwanted items and giving the money from the sale to a family in need. sometimes it takes 3 weeks to raise $500 sometimes less. depending on how many cloth bags we turn in. TO DATE BETWEEN THE CLOTH RAISERS AND RAFFLES WE HAVE GIVEN AWAY $17,000 LOCALLY!!!!! {GOD HAS MADE ALL OF THIS POSSIBLE}. I REPEAT, we do not have any money in holding for emergency assistance. I DO NOT pay utility bills, deposits, groceries, gas money etc. I am asked a minimum of 10 times per day for money and people actually sometimes get mad when I am not able to write a check instantly. there is also a waiting list for the fundraisers and right now we are full until January. These cloth bags are heavy and it is a huge job lifting sorting and piling these bags but we do it every week without complaint. I have worked 50-60 hrs a week for FREE. Sometimes there are people who think they are in dire straits and havent a clue what that really is. These people have asked for fundraisers and are not in need and because of their being denied they choose to say negative things about me. however, GOD knows the truth and that is all that matters. I have never accepted a monetary donation for the shop in its entire history! {although I am offered them daily} the only donations I do accept are unwanted items or yard sale leftovers. I hope this clarification helps anyone who has had questions. There is no ulterior motive, no scam, I GET PAID NOTHING! only a person trying to do good deeds in this community. I want no thanks, accolades or recognition. I only mention our successes because it may convince someone that we are worthy of donating their unwanted items to. Thank you for hearing me out and HAVE A BLESSED DAY!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 16:04:16 +0000
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