The thrift store serves multiple purposes. Donations are collected, sorted and displayed for resale. We offer a change of clothing and hygiene kits for the homeless. The thrift store also houses our food center, where volunteeers prepare and serve daily sack lunches to homeless walk-ins and prepare items for the emergency assistance department. Thrift store volunteer help with:
-Sorting, tagging, and pricing donations
-Arranging and displaying items for sale
-Working the cash register, bagging purchases
-Helping customers and clients
-Repairing items for resale
-Creating and changing display themes for front window
Volunteers can choose specific areas in which to help:
-Ladies Wear
-Men's Wear
-Infant/Children's items
-Jewelry
-Formal wear
-Shoes
-Books/ magazines
-Appliances
-Purses
-Coats
-Household/collectables
E-bay and In-Store auction items:
Volunteers identify donations that might be of higher value, research the items and post for "auction" type sale on the internet or in the store.
Volunteering in Emergency Assistance:
Volunteers answer phone calls and take referrals from churches and other qualified social agencies. Ladies of Charity tries to meet the needs of families or individuals, whether they are low income or homeless, with assistance for rent, utilities, transportation, clothing, food and medical needs.
Emergency Assistance hours
9:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Monday- Friday
Volunteers can assist by:
- Answering phones, taking referrals
- Helping walk-ins, who may need assistance in picking out designated items
- Recruiting volunteers to main the phone lines
- Training new volunteers in E.A. duties
- Purchasing clothing for the homeless
- Organizing client files
- Organizing bags or goods that are being prepared for pick up
Volunteering in the Food Center:
Volunteers stock and prepare take-home food items and houehold supplies for individuals in need. Additionally, Ladies of Charity sends sack lunches to the Day Resource Center for the homeless once a week. (Food service training for volunteers is required to meet guidelines)
Volunteers can assist by:
- Preparing sack lunches to be given out once a week at the Day Resource Center
- Organizing, transporting and stocking inventory
-Preparing client orders for family/individual home assistance
-Helping with reports, paper work
Volunteering for Christmas Toy Drive:
Every year, Ladies of Charity collects and distributes bags of toys for underprivileged preschool children. New and gently used toys are collected year-round, and In mid-December, volunteers distribute a van full of Christmas surprises to the preschool and share in a festive holiday celebration. This has always been a successful and rewarding program, as both the children and the volunteers gain from the joyous experience.
Additionally, Ladies of Charity, in cooperation with the Dallas Catholic Diocese, prepare and distribute over 1400 Christmas stockings of personal hygeine items for nursing home clients.
Volunteers can assist by:
- Keeping a year-round inventory and collection area for incoming Christmas toys
- From August to December, working to establish important dates and tasks to be completed, sorting toys into sections for boys/ girls, knowing exact number of bags needed, which items we are short on and which items we have a surplus, organizing and giving a few volunteers plenty of notice for their "morning of" tasks, such as loading the toy sacks into the van, driving to the school, and distributing the toy sacks to the kids.
- Bagging and organizing toy sacks so that they are ready to go at least one day in advance
- On the "morning of," volunteers load the van with the sacks, driving to the school, distribute them to preschoolers, and stay for a short Christmas celebration with the school.
