Photo: Pixabay
After the owners of a Summerland quilt store decided to retire, one local is working on her decades-long goal to start a charity for children that may not have the funds to go into art.
Jules is opening up Stop the Car Thrift Store, in support of her local non-profit, Heart for Art. The thrift store and art gallery are coming to Main Street in Summerland.
Proceeds of the non-profit, soon to be registered charity, will go towards funding children and teens in Summerland and Penticton, to be able to attend art, dance and music lessons.
“When I thought of, ‘How am I going to make money for the charity?’ [The thrift store] was the first thing that came to my mind,” she said.
With three other thrift shops in the small downtown, Jules said she sees the traffic going through them and hopes to bring another place for bargain hunters to find unique items.
“I’ve also connected with five charities in Kelowna, and we’re actually going to do some collaborating together when they have excess stuff, which they would actually normally recycle, we’ll come and pick it up so it gets one other chance to not go in the landfill or not go to a recycler,” she added.
“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”
In the future, the shop will be doing donation drives in the surrounding cities near Summerland.
The store will also have a children’s art section so the child can come in and work on something.
“Then we will actually put their artwork out for them, for us to sell for them,” Jules added.
“I want to have an art centre, just a spot where there’s tons of crafts, there’s paints, crayons, just all these different kinds of art supplies, open whenever the store is open, and people can just go in and just create whatever they want to create with what’s in there for a small donation.”
Part of the store will also be dedicated to showcasing artists from the area.
Jules said they are working first on getting the thrift store side open.
Currently the store is seeking donations to help them get set up, and are in need of:
- Hangers. Wire is fine.
- Tables. All sizes.
- Shelving units like bookcases.
- Clothes racks
- Any other items that would work well for display.
- Wood for custom made shelving.
- Any type of items that you have around your house that you could donate to a good cause.
Jules said they are accepting most items at this time, just not any large electrical items or large furniture items such as sofas and mattresses.
They are also in need of volunteers to be cashiers, sorters, pricers, cleaners and handy-men.
The store is hoping to be open on Sept. 1, and is collecting items from Thursday to Saturday.
- Thursday and Friday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Times for drop off on Aug. 19 to Sept. 1 to be announced.
Items are asked to be brought through front or back doors at 9908 and 9910 Main Street, previously the Cherry Tree Quilts store.
For more information or to sign up top volunteer, email [email protected]