CCNH thrift shops have volunteers with heart

At first glance the busy thrift shops located on Hastings Street in Bancroft or on Hwy. 62 in Coe Hill look like any other retail store offering a mix of gently used household goods, books, children's toys, jewelry, craft supplies, gift baskets for all seasons and more! Only a few days left to holiday shop before the stores take a break for the holidays! Look at little closer however and you will quickly realize that it's the volunteers who make these spaces special.

The Heritage Thrift Shoppe and Coe Hill Thrift Shop are the heart of the Community Care North Hastings charity branch of the organization (now located in the CCNH Wellness Hub at 12 Flint Avenue) with proceeds going back to the community through programs and services. The focus is truly recognizing the magic of every individual who enters the stores regardless of where circumstances find them. On any given day in the shops there are numerous volunteers in and out, busy sorting goods, washing dishes, checking to ensure items are in good condition and functioning properly, pricing items and getting them out on the floor, creating beautiful seasonal decorations and gift baskets, dusting and tidying or braving the drop bins in the back to sort what is often just garbage -— please consider the kind-hearted volunteers who climb in to clean it up. But even this doesn't truly capture what the shops are about.

The Heritage Shoppe and Coe Hill Thrift Shop are run by heart centred caring volunteers whose focus is giving back to our community! Take for example The Heritage Shoppe volunteer managers Maureen Hall, Lorna Brownlee, Susan Malloy, Cindy Dunstan and Waldi DeSousa who help the store run like a well-oiled machine (which it needs to with the amount of goods that move through the space). Current volunteers include Bernadette Armstrong, John Bobrowicz, Nancy Bruce, Anne-Marie Courneyea, Barb and Chester Czerwinski, Robert DeSousa, Bill English, Kim Ewing, Karen Fanjoy, Joan Foster, Jack Gilbank, Jenny and Jim Gwilliams, Anne Hodson, Lori Huszarik, Rita Irwin, Evelyn Lake, Sonia McAllister, Bonnie McNevin, Jean Menard, Eleanor Mertz, Caroline Milne, Gary Morrison, Deb Moxam, Caroline Murdoch, Brian Musclow, Trevor Olzsewski, Kathy Partridge, Eileen Post, Marion Ralph, Beth Ruch, Chris Sanderson, Sue Solomon, Iris Solomon, Brenda Vardy, Linda Ward, Diane White, Nancy White and Bob MacDonald.

The same can be said for the Coe Hill Thrift Shop volunteers who also make their store run smoothly and well organized. Current volunteers include Fay Lilly, Geraldine Woodbeck, Helen Jackson, Jenna Shewen, Lee-Anne King, Sheila Leuschner, Cathy Stoughton, Kathy Earle, Jewell Stanley, Margaret Nicholson, Mark Reid and Bill Verhouven.

There are so many people kindly offering their time and energy or who have volunteered in the past; this list is by no means comprehensive and thank you to all who have given of themselves to the thrift shops over the years! A community is only as strong as its members and volunteers. The next time you pop into either of the shops please offer these people a pat on the back and a smile as they truly care about everyone who walks in the door! The Heritage Shoppe and Coe Hill Thrift Shop volunteers are committed to serving individuals in need and their compassionate efforts improve lives. Community Care North Hastings and its volunteers quietly go about doing this daily. 

The Heritage Shoppe and Coe Hill Thrift Shop will be closed from Dec. 19 to Dec. 30 with Coe Hill Thrift Shop reopening on Jan. 3,  and the Heritage Shoppe reopening on Jan.  4.
From our families to yours, wishing you a safe holiday and a happy New Year!

Submitted by CCNH