Thrift Store is accepting contactless donations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
Here are some frequently asked questions and answers:
Why are you only accepting donations 12 hours a week?
It’s a combination of limited manpower and limited space to process everything. We also now are adjusting to the July 1 Illinois minimum wage increase, meaning we can’t afford to increase the store’s staffing levels as much as we would like.
I’ve been saving donations throughout the COVID-19 shutdown. Should I bring them all to the Thrift Store now?
If you can spread out your donations over the next couple of months, that would help us a lot. We just don’t have the manpower to handle the generosity of our community when it comes all at once.
Do you need volunteers at the store?
What we need immediately are a couple of volunteers to help at the donation door. Before people quickly volunteer, they need to understand what they are in for. It’s a workout, involving heavy lifting, in the summer heat. If you are up for that challenge, please contact us. Meantime, we have reincorporated about 10 volunteers at the store, and will add more in the coming weeks. If you would like to volunteer, start here.
The store doesn’t always look full. Does that mean donations are down?
Not at all. What it means is that our limited crew is spending most of its time getting donations from the receiving bay to the processing or recycling area. Which, in turn, leaves less time to process and tag items, and place them for sale in the store. We’ll catch up, but it’s taking time.
Do you need winter clothing?
Not yet. Please hold onto your winter clothing items and donate them this fall. We’re filling the store with summer clothing right now. And with the huge volume of donations coming in, we just don’t have space to store winter items.
Contactless donations
Thrift Store asks our donors to do the following to ensure safe contactless donations:
- Place your bagged or contained donations in your trunk or hatch
- Drive around to the back side of Thrift Store put your vehicle in park and pop your trunk.
- A friendly associate or volunteer will come out and remove your donation!
- Be sure to crack your window so we can gather your information and mail you a receipt for your donation.
- If you have more donations than what can fit in your trunk, please place them in your backseat. After we remove items from your trunk please pull into one of the parking spaces, place the remaining donations in your trunk and drive back through the donation drive thru.
The Mission’s retail stores generate 16.3% of our general operating budget, which helps sustain our life-changing programs.
Thrift Store offers gently used items including clothing, household goods, furniture, and accessories, which both meet the needs of our guests as well as provide a low-cost shopping option for the community. As a result of the nearly 20,000 cars that pass through our donation drive thru annually, we are able to fully stock our store as well as send excess clothing to those in need around the world.
