HALDIMAND—While summer is traditionally yard sale season, thrift stores make it so that second-hand goods are accessible year-round. Haldimand County boasts five not-for-profit thrift stores, where the profits from the stores go toward helping the community, as well as several for-profit second hand, consignment, and similar stores.
WHY THRIFTING?
—Haldimand Press photo by Tamara Botting.
The reasons why people might go thrifting vary widely, according to the proprietors of the local shops.
Julie Marchese, founder of Julia’s Old Fashioned Christmas Charity Thrift Store, noted that if a household’s budget is tight, a thrift store can be a benefit “to the people who are just making enough,” because “they’ll get a better deal” on items.
For other shoppers, said Heather Van Pol, manager of the Caledonia Salvation Army Thrift Store, it’s all about “the thrill of the hunt” and finding unique pieces that everyone else doesn’t have immediate access to. She noted that some customers will regularly make a day trip of visiting several thrift stores, since the stock changes frequently.
There’s also the environmental aspect, noted Mary Mater, president of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul St. Michael’s Dunnville Conference and store manager.
“I think everybody is pretty cognizant of keeping things out of landfills,” she said.
This could include both donors giving items they don’t want anymore that could still be used by others, as well as shoppers looking to recycle and reuse items, rather than buying new.
WHO BENEFITS?
Jan Madsen is co-manager of the Cayuga Food Bank, which runs a thrift store every Friday (except the last of the month) exclusively for food bank clients; on the last Saturday of the month, the store is open to the public.
The store makes it easier for all customers to access items that aren’t otherwise readily available in the area.
“We don’t really have a store in town anymore … so it’s just convenient for our clients and also the people in town,” Madsen said.
Besides that, the store gives the food bank vital financial support.
“We’re not getting a lot of food donations now … so we’re having to buy a lot of food,” Madsen said, besides paying for things like rent on the space and utilities.
The Saint Vincent de Paul and Julia’s Old Fashioned Christmas Charity thrift stores both offer support for food insecure households through the funds raised.
Mater noted that St. Michael’s School “usually (does) one or two big food drives for us” annually. The location also provides grocery gift cards to those in need who meet the qualification requirements, so they can shop independently for their household’s needs.
Marchese said her location regularly accesses food through Second Harvest Food Rescue, and in that, has been able to provide help to residents who may not qualify for more formalized supports, but could still use a hand up.
According to data from Second Harvest Food Rescue, in one year, Marchese’s location distributed the equivalent of 10,655 meals at a value of over $33,000.
Helen Torensma opened her non-profit store, Helen’s Treasures, in 2000; each year, the store donates its net proceeds to a variety of different organizations, both locally and beyond, such as the Hagersville Food Bank, Haldimand-Norfolk Community Senior Support Services (Hagersville location), Canadian Bible Society, and McMaster Children’s Hospital.
In 2023, the store donated over $30,000, along with – like many of the other stores – also giving items to individuals and organizations in need.
Katie Duddeck, Torensma’s daughter and manger of the store, noted that they work in partnership with the local food banks as well as Ganhohkwasra Family Assault Support Services in Ohsweken; every six months, clients of these organizations are given a voucher so they can come in to the store and get a bag of clothing for each family member, as well as footwear and a coat.
“That helps them, big time, being able to come in and get some clothes,” Duddeck said.
Torensma noted that they’ve also passed items that were donated to them along to other organizations, such as art supplies to the Haldimand Abilities Centre, to help that organization keep their operating costs down.
“If we hear of different programs in the area that we know could use some of this stuff, we try to (offer it),” she said.
Duddeck said that’s the whole point.
“This is why we’re here – to help.”
Thrift stores can also support those behind the registers.
As Van Pol noted, the Caledonia store operates under Salvation Army Lawson Ministries Hamilton, which, according to its website, works to “provide support and social inclusion to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.”
The Caledonia store serves as a location for the retail training program, and upon completion, “some of the individuals are hired by us, or they just took their transferable skills back to their community,” Van Pol said.
Meanwhile, Julia’s Old Fashioned Christmas Charity Thrift Store works with students who are in co-operative education and the Turning Point program with Grand Erie District School Board, so they can earn school credit as well as on-the-job experience.
COMMUNITY IS KEY
Community is the cornerstone of the local non-profit thrift stores.
As Van Pol noted, the store wouldn’t have anything to sell if not for donors.
“It all comes from our community,” she said.
Mater echoed the sentiment.
“We have a very strong community support here,” she said.
It’s not just about the greater community, though; it’s also about the one that’s created within the stores’ walls.
Van Pol said her location is “a little bit of a social hub.… You get to know the customers. You get to know the people and how they are, and how they’re doing, and just where they’re at.… I think there’s a lot of people that like to come in just to have someone to touch base with them, just to say hi.”
Duddeck said a customer recently told her, “What you have here is a safe place. It’s a place to be seen, a place to be heard, a place to just be” – and that’s a sentiment she agrees with.
“Everybody’s got a different situation walking in, and sometimes people just need a place to go.”
Cayuga Food Bank
(only open last Saturday of the month for the general public)
Location: 8 McKay St. W., Cayuga
Phone: 289-370-0320
Online: facebook.com/CayugaFoodbank
Payment: Cash, cheques
Caledonia Salvation Army Thrift Store
Location: 322 Argyle St. S., Caledonia
Phone: 905-765-6653
Online: sacts.ca
Payment: Cash, debit
Helen’s Treasures
Location: 22 King St. W., Hagersville
Phone: 905-768-7932
Online: facebook.com/helentreasures
Payment: Cash, debit
Julia’s Old Fashioned Christmas Charity
Location: 108 Bridge St., Dunnville
Phone: 905-701-4040
Online: juliascharity.com
Payment: Cash only (ATM on site)
Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
Location: 116 Lock St. E., Dunnville
Phone: 905-701-9999
Online: ssvp.on.ca/en/stores2.php?store=10
Payment: Cash, debit
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
- Many stores aren’t able to accept donations of large items (such as furniture) and electronics (such as printers and large TVs) due to space restrictions; call first to confirm.
- Donations should never be left outside of the thrift store, or they may be damaged through exposure to the elements, vandalism, etc. Donations to the Cayuga Food Bank can be dropped off Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon, or by appointment. Due to space restrictions, the Saint Vincent de Paul store has a limit of two bags or boxes per donor, and Julia’s Old Fashioned Christmas Charity requests that donations be limited to Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, or by appointment.
- Donated items should be new or gently used – not broken, dirty, unusable, etc.
- Some stores – but not all – can offer pick ups of donations and/or delivery of purchases; call ahead to confirm.
- Canada has restrictions on the resale of some items, in particular, baby items such as cribs, bassinets, and car seats (read more here: bit.ly/CanadaSecondHandProducts). Before donating these items, call first to confirm that the store can take them.
