Thrift store thrives on volunteer work, generosity
<p>From Right: Alvin Benitz, president of the Libby Community Thrift Shop, stands with board members Roberta Taylor and Shirley Collier, and volunteer Norma Vinson at the shop. (Bethany Rolfson/The Western News)</p>
A local thrift store turns 50 in a few years, and the volunteers take pride in their accomplishments but they don’t take anything else (aside from donations to the store).
The Libby Community Thift Shop is a non-profit supported by 28 volunteers, most of whom are over the age of 50 and retired.
All of the store’s income goes back into the community. They make monthly donations of $100 each to the The Food Pantry, The Pregnancy Care Center, Wings, Basic Needs, Libby Care Center and the Libby Ministerial Association. The store also gives $50 to the fire department to keep on hand for when families lose their home and need to find a hotel; award a $500 scholarship to a worthy Libby High School senior; pass out kids’ books along the parade route during Nordicfest; buy a magazine subscription at the library; give a family some help during Christmas; and maintain a ‘burn closet’ for a family that has lost items.
In 2015, the thrift store gave $5,812 back to the community.
“It’s really been rewarding,” board member Roberta Taylor said. “Giving to people in need, making sure that the community has an outreach.”
“It was so rewarding to see that we could help those people,” said board member Shirley Collier.
The store has clothes, board games, puzzles, lamps, bike helmets, a variety of decor, kitchen items and much more. They do not take furniture or televisions. All the donations must be sorted by the volunteers. Since the store does not have any laundry facilities, the volunteers individually take the clothes home and wash them personally.
“Sometimes we have clothes come in with the tags still on them,” said Norma Vinson, who’s volunteered at the store for eight years.
“It’s interesting in here because you get to see new things each day,” said Alvin Benitz, president of the thrift store. “We get some yard sale stuff, and we get garbage bags full of nice clean clothes.”
The thrift store also has back to school sales, fall, and winter sales throughout the year.
Currently, they are having a $4 “sack sale” through the month of July.
Whenever the thrift store has excess items, they donate them to the care centers and churches. They also sell rags to businesses for $5 per pound.
The Thrift Store is currently in the need for volunteers, according to Anita Short, a volunteer at Libby Community Thrift Store for 20 years
“We could use more help. We’ve had some volunteers that have had medical issues,” Short, who is also vice president of the thrift store, said.
Libby Community Thrift Shop volunteers would like to extend their gratitude to the DTSR team for letting them use their building for their monthly board meetings; the people of Libby and Troy for the donations and support and to all of the volunteers.
The Libby Community Thrift Shop is open Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
For more information, contact Marlene Nelson at 293-4255. To volunteer, contact Anita Short at 293-5915.
Reporter Bethany Rolfson may be reached at 293-4124 or by email at Reporter@TheWesternNews.com.