Our Lady Minto Hospital Auxiliary was very grateful to Salt Spring Island Foundation (SSIF) in 2021 for the approval of a $5400 grant for the Thrift Shop Expansion project. At the time the grant was approved, it was expected that the grant would go towards the startup costs for the Lady Minto Thrift Shop expansion project – doubling the floor area of the shop, office and donation processing areas. However, our members did not want to spend a lot of money expanding in an old, rented property. Some time was required to determine it was not a good business decision given spiraling construction costs, the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, high rent, and an anticipated disruption of the Thrift Shop operation. But late in 2022, it was decided to proceed in a very “thrifty” way without major renovations using the talents, expertise, and hard work of our volunteers. The floor area was doubled with very few changes to the original layout of the premises. The main costs were flooring and paint. Support from this SSIF grant covers a major part of these expenses.
This project has benefited not only our 100 plus volunteers, but also our local community in providing a better, low-cost source of essential clothing, linens and household items. As an unexpected side effect, it now provides a happy, spacious meeting place for both our customers and volunteers. Our customers come in more frequently and our volunteers enjoy working in more spacious, light-filled rooms.
This project has been a catalyst to improve our pride of place and encourage our volunteers to work together in more business-like ways improving our capacity to earn more money to support the care and comfort of the patients and residents of our local healthcare facilities. Sales were consistently up more than 10% in this first half of 2023. In the short term, we anticipate less costly improvements such as a better point of sale system. In the long term, the goal is to own our premises.
Our members appreciate the continued support by the Salt Spring Island Foundation and the generous donors in our community who make these grants possible. 