Blessings to You Centre – Thrift and Gift is continuing a holiday tradition initiated here last year with the opening of a Christmas Village shop on Main Street.
Located this year in the former Guardian Pharmacy building, the shop features toys, books, Christmas decorations, clothing, home decor items and more.
The Christmas Village offers items at a reasonable cost or by donation. While there are a wide range of goods available, a section featuring like-new toys is an extremely popular feature, says volunteer Mary Weber. To ensure everyone has an opportunity to acquire Christmas toys, shoppers are limited to one visit to the toy section and two “large gifts” per child. The section is also stocked with books and other smaller gift items, on which no purchase limits are placed.
“We are here to help those in need with whatever they require,” said Weber, adding everyone is welcome to shop at either the Christmas Village or Blessings to You, which is located at 255 Norman Street in Palmerston.
All the items in both stores are donated and staff are part of a team of about 30 dedicated volunteers.
All funds raised at the Christmas Village are used to support food banks in Palmerston, Harriston, Drayton and Listowel, the Palmerston Public School snack program, Operation Christmas Child and a heat and hydro assistance program for local families.
The Christmas Village, at 237 Main Street W. in Palmerston, is open until Dec. 20 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 4:30pm and Saturdays from 9am to noon.
The organization continues to encourage donations of items from the community, including gently-used clothing, household items, furniture and mattresses. Weber notes boys clothing, size 6X and up is always in particularly high demand.
“Boys wear out their clothing quickly,” she pointed out.
