For a thrift store just operating to raise money for mission projects, every penny counts.
So when money needs to be spent on added expenses, such as paying for old couches and mattresses to be taken to the landfill it hurts their bottom line.
Unfortunately, the St. John’s Episcopal Thrift Shop is experiencing this problem again.
Thrift Shop volunteer Angie Bennett said it seems like every time they just finish hauling off old, unwanted, used couches, love seats and mattresses more seem to appear. These are items the shop doesn’t need or even sell.
“We can’t sell mattresses. It’s against the law actually because we don’t know what they have,” Bennett said.
She said for all they know the mattresses could be filled with bed bugs.
“People wait until after their garage sales and then dump off what they can’t sell,” Bennett said.
Currently, the Thrift Shop pays about $170 a month to have the city pick up large, metal dumpsters twice a month and take them to the landfill.
“Our volunteers aren’t big enough or strong enough to handle this big stuff,” she said.
The volunteers can’t lift the couches and mattresses into the dumpster so they have to call the city and pay them to load it onto a flatbed trailer and haul it to the landfill.
This costs an additional $25 to $60 a month.
This may not sound like much, but almost all of the money raised at the Thrift Shop is donated to various organizations, including the Green River Food Bank, the Safe House, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Hospice, Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen and Cathedral Home for Children, which is located in Laramie. They also use some of the money to purchase phone cards for those serving in the military.
“It depletes our income,” Bennett said. “It cuts back from our donations.”
Items Not Accepted
Bennett said she wants to remind residents that they will not take or sell baby furniture, including high chairs, car seats, strollers, bounce seats and anything baby-related that could have a recall on it.
Safety helmets can’t be accepted unless they are brand new, which means they must still have the tags on them and have never been used.
“We can’t sell them if they are used because we don’t know if they’ve been in an accident or not,” Bennett said about the helmets and car seats.
They also cannot accept foot baths, humidifiers, mattresses, sofas, refrigerators, stoves, washing machines or dryers.
They also cannot accept scratched up Teflon pans. Bennett said once a Teflon pan is scratched it should just be thrown in the trash because there is a risk that Teflon flakes can get into the food.
Bennett said they don’t want anyone to bring their trash to the shop either.
“A couple of weeks ago one of the volunteers opened up a bag and there was a rat in there,” Bennett said.
That bag should have been taken to the landfill or home trash dumpster.
How to Donate
Donations shouldn’t even be dropped off unless the shop is open. This allows the volunteers to see what’s being donated.
“If they come when we are here, then we can see if we can use it,” Bennett said.
Popular items to donate include, denim clothing, camouflage items, Carhartt clothes, cowboy boots, anything with the Wyoming Cowboys logo on it, towels, rugs, fancy purses, jewelry, yarn, buttons, suit cases, cooking pots, pans, candles and DVD movies.
The Thrift Shop is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and this should be when donations are made.
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