fbpx
星期一, 1 月 27, 2025

Charity begins with Christmas Op shop

A wide variety of Christmas decor is available for less than half the price at the Christmas Speciality shop, says volunteer Crystal Steel. Times photo Wayne Martin.

The ramshackle shed wears a cheerful look as Crystal Steel has transformed it into a cheerful and vibrant Christmas speciality shop that sits next to St Andrew’s Opportunity Shop on Vincent Street, Howick.

Three years ago Crystal realised that there were a lot of Christmas gifts and decor that people donated throughout the year which was taking up a lot of shelf space at the Op shop.

“We were running out of space and decided to have a separate Christmas shop in the shed next-door where people can buy a wide variety of Christmas stuff at a very cheap price. We’ve been running it for the last two years; this will be the third year,” says the energetic 80-year–old Howick resident.

“We collected around $1000 last year, which all goes to charity.”

Having volunteered for St Andrew’s Op Shop for 50 years, ever since it started in Otara before moving to Howick, Crystal has seen a huge change as far as charity shops go.

“There were times when people would eagerly wait right outside the shop on a Tuesday or a Thursday as we brought in new stock and they would swoop on it like birds, wanting to pick up the best stuff.

“I remember the time when a gentleman bought a suit from us for around $20 and wore it to his wedding. He dropped in at the shop on the way to the wedding to show us how well it fitted him,” she says.

Beverley Riley, who has also been a long time volunteer, says that more often than not  people would buy stuff on lay-by and, on benefit day, they’d drop in to collect bags full of goodies.

Whilst there were lots more volunteers at the shop then, now the average age of volunteers is 70 to 80 years.

The ladies fondly mention 96-year-old Lorraine Stewart who sometimes takes washing baskets home to give the old clothes a wash. She even irons them and gets them on a hanger, ready for sale.

As they say, it’s all for a good cause!

By clicking to accept for Times Online to be translated into Mandarin, you accept and acknowledge that it has been translated for your convenience using 3 rd party translation software. No automated translation is perfect, nor is it intended to replace human translators and are provided "as is." No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, or correctness of any translations made from English into Mandarin. Some content (such as images, videos etc.) may not be accurately translated due to the limitations of the translation software. The official text is the English version of the website. Any discrepancies or differences created in the translation are not binding and have no legal effect and should not be relied on by you for any decision-making purposes. If any questions arise related to the accuracy of the information contained in the translated website, refer to the English version of the website which is the official edited version.

点击同意将《时代在线》翻译成中文,即表示您接受并确认,该翻译是使用第三方软件为您方便起见而 提供的。请注意自动翻译并非完美无缺,也不旨在取代人工翻译,只能作为参考而已。对于英文到中文 的任何翻译的准确性、可靠性或正确性,我们不提供任何明示或暗示的保证。由于翻译软件的限制,某 些内容(如图片、视频等)可能无法准确翻译。   英文版本是本网站的官方正式文本。翻译中产生的任何差异或错误均不具有约束力,不具有法律效力, 您不应依赖由自动翻译软件生成的版本做出任何决策。如果对翻译后的网站中包含的信息的准确性有任 何疑问,请参阅本网站的官方编辑英文版本。

- 广告
- 广告

更多信息来自《泰晤士报在线

- 广告

最新

- 广告
- 广告