Our parish thrift store, a ministry of the Rosary Guild, provides a place for families in the area to purchase household items at very reasonable prices. The thrift store operates through the generosity of our parishioners and others who donate items. Our volunteers sort, organize, and prepare these items for our customers. You can help our parish and our community by volunteering with us! Please contact the Parish Office 518-482-3375 to volunteer.
We are open for shopping every Saturday, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
We accept donations on Tuesday & Friday, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM at the Central Ave entrance. We are unable to accept donations on Saturdays.
We accept donations of:
- clothing
- shoes & boots
- coats
- dishware & glassware sets
- housewares
- lamps
- small furniture pieces
- young children’s furniture
- linens, sheets, & towels
- toys
We are not able to accept:
- stuffed animals
- books
- cassette or VHS tapes
- computers
- old styled televisions
- bed pillows
- large items from assisted care, nursing, or patient facilities
- and anything not in good condition.
You can help our parish and our community by volunteering to sort, organize, and prepare the items for sale. Please contact the Parish Office 518-482-3375 to volunteer.
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’”
Matthew 25: 35-40
The Boutique’s mission is in accordance with the Jesus’ directive to show our love by caring for each other. His message to provide clothing to others was straightforward and our volunteering at the Boutique is performing this corporal work of mercy. While some of our customers shop “recreationally” most of our customers are neighbors who rely on us for an affordable way to provide for themselves and their families. Serving them respectfully fulfills our role to our community and to Jesus.
The operation of the Boutique has expanded significantly over the years and we are constantly adapting our practices to further our mission. The Boutique has many areas that need attention and all volunteers share in the responsibility of making it a place to be proud of.
While the Saturday volunteers are visible providing direct customer service, the Tuesday and Friday teams play a very significant behind-the-scenes role and makes it possible to be open on Saturdays. Like any store, our goal is to provide a well-organized, neat, and safe place for our customers to shop. It is the responsibility of the Tuesday and Friday teams to ensure that the Boutique is presentable for our customers on Saturdays.
Below you can find our different departments, and in each we need a couple of workers:
- Cash desk, bags
- The shelving and hanging area near the checkout area
- Shelves with miscellaneous items
- Pool table
- Tablecloths and curtain racks
- Blankets & miscellaneous bin aisle
- Small & medium tops/ shorts racks
- Large & Extra large tops/ new racks
- Size 2-10 pants racks
- Size 12-18 pants racks
- Dresses, 2-piece sets, athletic and pj racks
- Coats & Plus size racks
- Large kitchen area
- Shoes, Dishware room
- Swimsuits & Pocketbooks
- Children’s department
- Men’s department
- Women’s bins
For the clothing areas, responsibilities include: removing empty hangers, making sure that the clothing is in the proper size on the racks, checking to be sure that the clothing is not ripped, stained, out of season or extremely out of style, and sorting it in a way to make it easy for our customers to find what they are looking for. The racks should be full, but not overstuffed.
Clothing should be checked for quality and discarded if it is damaged, stained, etc. Linens that are not appropriate for our customers but suitable for animal use will be set aside for the animal shelter. Appliances will be tested before putting them out. Off-season items are inspected and then stored for the future season. While we want to save some larger boxes for our customers who purchase dishes and glasses, smaller boxes should be broken down for removal. Broken glass should be put aside separately as to not cause injuries to those handling it.
For the bins and the miscellaneous items, responsibilities include making sure things are in working order, and displayed neatly.
On rotating Saturdays, the cashiers will work the desk and the floor. Floor responsibilities include picking up messes, providing customer service, returning merchandise to the racks, sweeping up broken glass, and working to ensuring overall order is maintained. Customers are to be checked out respectfully and with patient assistance. In addition to checking out our customers’ purchases, the cashiers will also look for unusual customer behavior, answer questions, and provide general assistance.
Our intake volunteers greet and thank our donors and offer help getting the donations into the Boutique. Our generous donors are the reason we are able to provide this service to our community. Our intake volunteers also do an initial sort-through and see that the donated items are delivered to the appropriate area.
We try to always keep in mind that the purpose of our Boutique is to provide an affordable shopping alternative for “the least of our brothers”, and recently we have been serving a number of refugees and asylum-seekers, and so we remain flexible as each situation is unique.
Sincerely,
Heidi, Jean, Mary Ellen, & Michelle