St. Andrew’s Thrift Shop- History
The Thrift Shop began in 1978. The United Church Women of St. Andrew’s United Church (UCW) had an idea for “The Rummage Sale”. It was a project to raise funds to help the church pay off the mortgages. As the original United Church building located on the NW corner of McLeod Avenue and Main Street was standing empty, it provided a perfect location to hold the sale.
A call went out to the congregation and the response was overwhelming; many household goods, clothing, and miscellaneous items were donated. The first sale was held for one weekend but continued so that the set up did not have to be dismantled. It continued for four weekends in a row.
The building was sold to the Senior Citizen’s Club in 1978 and the sale could continue in it’s original location for one day a week. Selling was done upstairs and the sorting was done downstairs. At first, there was no equipment other than five wooden tables from the 1930s. These tables were known as “turkey tables” as they were used for the turkey suppers! Ray Jones and Jack Brown built wooden clothes racks with wooden dowels for hanging clothes: these were heavy and awkward but they worked. Cardboard boxes were used for display.
Sales in 1978 were $1227.95 of which $1200 was used toward the building fund (mortgage).
At first, the rummage sale was only held on Saturday and, in those days, we were excited to make $20.00 per day. Donations continued to come in and the sale increased to two days per week (Friday and Saturday). Over time, it was held three days per week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but only during the summer. On February 5, 1981 the decision was made to stay open during the winter months and for three-day weekends. The hours of work were: Thursday 11 a.m. -3 p.m., Friday 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The volunteer workers had 2 hour shifts with 2 people per shift; some worked once per week, some more often and some worked once per month. The sale was closed one hour early on Saturdays to avoid the crowds of kids coming out of the movie theatre down the street!
Sales in 1981 were recorded as $9448.65 with $8200 paid towards the building fund. The financial gains were great, but the spiritual gains were even greater, and it was decided that there was a need for this type of service in Spruce Grove on a permanent basis.
In June of 1982, the $25 000 mortgage held by the United Church of Canada was paid off, and of this amount, $13 700 had been raised by the rummage sale. Payments continued to be made to the second mortgage held by the Credit Union.
Expenses in 1983 were high because of the purchase of display tables and clothing racks. These were purchased at a great savings from the Johnstone- Walker store in Edmonton that went out of business. These “new” racks and tables greatly improved the appearance and neatness of the sale.
In 1984, there were 30 people who regularly volunteered at the rummage sale. Financial help continued to be provided to the church and “from the heart help” was given to the community. Extra clothing and goods were donated to other charitable organizations. The rummage sale worked with the Health Unit and Social Services and fulfilled private requests. Assistance was provided to the Vietnamese Boat People, a Polish family who immigrated to the area, and clothing was sent to a missionary family in Africa, the Youth Emergency Centre in Edmonton, WIN house, to a Rehoboth group home, and to the Everglades Lodge. Many pairs of skates, hockey equipment and ski boots were donated to inner city youth in Edmonton.
Locally, donations were given to residents of house fires, baby gowns were donated to the Royal Alexander Hospital, buttons were saved for St. James Church in Edmonton, handcrafting articles were set aside for our own church craft sale, and the excess clothing was sent to Goodwill. Local family needs were being met as the sale supplied warm clothing and many household items.
In 1988, a goal was reached when the final payment was made on the second mortgage. In monetary terms a total of $121,100.00 was contributed to the mortgages (this was 75% of the total). All future money would go into the building fund to help provide a solid base for growing St. Andrew’s United Church. Plans for a new building were in the works to accommodate the growing number of families worshiping at St. Andrew’s.
At the annual meeting, January 31, 1988, the mortgage was symbolically burned and at the March 9th Board Meeting, a special presentation of a plaque was made honoring the volunteers from the rummage sale.
In 1991, property for a new church building was purchased (and paid for) in the Fieldstone subdivision, north of Spruce Grove Composite High School. In April 1993, with a loan from Ventures in Mission of over $400 000 and with help from the Thrift Shop, the new building was started. Despite a very rainy summer, construction of the church was completed in November at a cost of nearly one million dollars. The first service in the new church was held on Sunday, November 28, 1993 led by Rev. Tom Gilchrist. Dedication of the new church was held on April 24, 1994.
The relationship between St. Andrew’s United Church and the Thrift Shop continues to be strong. What started out as a once a week rummage sale, has grown into a six day per week business that has paid staff and over 110 volunteers. Donations are made to many charitable organizations, with a focus on local and provincial needs.
In 2005, the Thrift Shop doubled in size after the lot next door was purchased and the building was expanded. A congregational meeting approved a $500 000 loan to finance the endeavour and it was paid off early because of the increased revenue from the larger sales floor and storage areas in the basement.
During the Fort McMurray wildfire crisis in 2016, staff and volunteers sorted the overwhelming number of donations in the parking lot to provide evacuees with clothing and household items. Members of families with a Fort McMurray address received an “in kind” donation of $50.00 each for a value of over $8000. This was over and above the $10 000 that was donated to the Red Cross for the wildfire efforts.
In 2016, $290,000.00 was donated to charitable organizations.
In 2017, $203,000.00 was donated to charitable organizations.
In 2018, $210,000.00 was donated to charitable organizations.
In 2019, $185,000.00 was donated to charitable organizations.
In 2020, $56,000.00 was donated to charitable organizations.
In 2021, $260,000.00 was donated to charitable organizations.
In 2022, $227,000.00 was donated to charitable organizations.
In 2023, $235,000.00 was donated to charitable organizations.
Thank you to everyone who supports the St. Andrew’s Thrift Shop, either by working or through donations. We couldn’t do this without you!