Sheets and shot glasses, boots and board games, winter clothes and workout tapes . . .
It’s a great time to highlight the work of Bargain Barn! What they do is what January and February are all about. After the main winter festivities, we try to be more thrifty, we work to declutter. We look to buy things second-hand. And there’s a particular satisfaction when we take boxes of gently used things, no longer so useful to us, and find them new homes. And we’re extra thankful for our health resources, which are so heavily leaned upon at this time of year.
So take a bow, Bargain Barn!
It has been doing essential work in downtown Madeira Park for forty years. Proceeds from the sale of donations to this eclectic thrift store have topped $900,000 since 1977, and all profits go toward supporting health care in Pender Harbour.
A volunteer appreciation event was held at the Pender Harbour School of Music in late November, hosted by the executive of the Pender Harbour & District Health Centre Auxiliary Society. Sixty people attended and enjoyed appetizers (catered by Doug Davis), anecdotes, and laughs. Founders Doreen Lee and Muriel Cameron were given special recognition, and volunteers past and present were feted.
On a chilly Thursday afternoon Bargain Barn’s supremely organized jumble is bustling. There’s a mom with a stroller, browsing baby clothes, a svelte senior trying on some stylish boots, someone arranging knick knacks, and a couple of us already with small stacks of 75¢ books assembled for checkout. There’s lots of humour and banter from behind the till. The many regulars know which days the newest items hit the shelves, and there’s a powerful good feeling of doing the right thing: reusing, donating, avoiding waste and extravagance. Contributing to making things better.
Words | Nancy Pincombe
