With only three weeks left until the Groves New to You shop reopens at its new location, the need for new volunteers is greater than ever.
Community volunteers have been busy since July 16 at the thrift store’s new location in the former Ken Weeks Automotive Centre, renovating the dealership and getting it ready for business.
For those who work in the Groves Hospital Volunteer Association (GHVA) store, the move can’t come fast enough, as it means more selling and storage space, better lighting and a staff lunchroom.
Volunteer Richard Taylor, who has been at the site daily to supervise its transformation, says it’s been a much bigger project than officials anticipated, but will be well worth the effort.
“At the new location we’ve got about five acres of property and 6,000 square feet (of space),” he says. “The square footage of the old location was about 1,800 square feet.”
The new space will also be wheelchair accessible in anticipation of the new accessibility legislation coming into effect in 2018.
“We’re trying to plan ahead. The building inspector obviously wants us to try to be ahead of the time,” says Taylor.
With a traffic flow of up to 300 customers per day, the additional space provides the opportunity to bring in additional merchandise and have more on display.
It also means about 55 more volunteers will be needed to run the store.
GHVA member Carol Kirby says even donating a few hours makes a huge difference.
“Even if you have a couple of hours to give us, to work around children coming home from school. It’s a prime opportunity for us, not only to have someone helping us, but also for socializing,” Kirby said.
“It’s a big social thing for our volunteers. They get along and enjoy what they’re doing and they feel good about it because it’s for the hospital.”
Taylor says the GHVA is also seeking younger volunteers. Because many of Groves’ volunteers are retirees, much of the physical labour, including moving larger items, can be problematic.
For this reason the store cannot accept appliances, exercise equipment or large pieces of furniture. They also encourage high school students requiring community service hours to drop in after school and help out for a few hours.
“I think the old need the young and the young need the old. We need to have a sense of life and fun,” Taylor says. “Due to the age of our volunteers, we don’t feel like we can accept large furniture items. It’s hard to move them.”
Taylor says any tradespeople who would be willing to donate their time to help finish some projects in the building would be welcome as well.
He says the GHVA needs “people who are good at woodworking and finishing off items, because we still have shelving to build.
“We can’t rely on our volunteer members too much because they are older. They can come in and do the painting … which is wonderful, but we need some younger tradespeople in to finish off some last minute things.”
The New to You shop has been a fixture in Centre Wellington since the 1950s, when an “Opportunity Shop” began operating out of a volunteer’s home.
Since then, the Fergus Op Shop, rebranded in 2011 as the Groves New to You, has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars toward the purchasing of equipment for Groves hospital. Gross earnings since 1999 total approximately $2.8 million with annual income reaching an average of $300,000.
With the bigger premises and more room for donations, Kirby only expects those numbers to climb.
“The community is fantastic with their donations to us and we’re so packed with donations right now we’ve had to rent some storage units, so this is going to make a huge difference,” said Kirby. “We’ll be making more money, there’s no question about it.”
The current store at 695 St. David St. N. will be closed on Sept. 13, with the new location opening on Oct. 1. Donations will be accepted at the new store starting Sept. 15.
As renovations finish up and staff gets ready to open, they are also looking for donations of shopping carts, bookshelves, clothing racks and other store fixtures.
A grand opening ceremony will be held at the new location in the former Ken Weeks Automotive Centre Ltd., 950 David St. N., in Fergus on Oct. 8 at 11am. The day will feature special sales, cake and refreshments.
The Groves New to You store is open Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 4:30pm, and Tuesdays until 7pm. For more information call 519-843-1425.
