The Pennywise Thrift Shop at St. James' Church was closed for almost all of 2020, and it has barely been open in 2021.
The thrift shop at 58 Peter St. N., has been a part of the community for more than 30 years, and it is a community support system for people experiencing homelessness and vulnerable people in Orillia, officials say.
On April 6 the thrift shop was scheduled to re-open after a long hiatus. However, after the provincial government's decision to enact stay-at-home orders last Friday, volunteers were once again forced to keep the shop doors closed.
Joyce Hird, volunteer and main operator of the Pennywise Thrift Shop, says the potential re-opening of the shop depends on the longevity of the pandemic.
"As a good steward, we don’t want to encourage people to come out, so we don’t want to be open when people should be staying home,” Hird said.
The thrift shop has been a key resource for local vulnerable citizens, Hird explains.
“We had a loonie lunch program on Wednesdays where we give away a lot of clothing, so (being closed) is difficult for those people,” she said.
“For the homeless, if they can get an apartment, we are usually able to help them out by letting them pick out a few things for free, but being closed we can’t do any of that. We can’t help the community like we normally do," Hird lamented.
The thrift shop's closure is also impacting various charities that rely on the church's funding, Hird says.
“Financially this does hurt the church because we count on this money to operate our social justice outreach both nationally and internationally, which helps us to give to people in need,” she said.
On top of that, the seniors who work in the shop are missing out on having something to keep them occupied and active.
“A lot of our volunteers look forward to coming into the thrift shop and working. We have a group that comes into sort, and we have another group who works the business hours,” Hird said.
Currently, the thrift shop is unable to accept donations as inventory is piling up from the limited transactions that have taken place over the past year.
“We sure do have a lot of articles here that we would like to get out to the public, so we hope we can open soon,” Hird said.
For those who would like to make a monetary donation to help the thrift shop, they can do so through the church’s website, or they can call the church at 705-325-2742.
