CAMANO ISLAND — The thrift shop that provides nearly half of the budget for the island’s senior and community center is seeking dedicated weekend volunteers.
The center also is looking for people to help with its senior service programs.
The Camano Senior Services Association runs the center at 606 Arrowhead Road and Second Chance Thrift Shop at 1335 Highway 532. The nonprofit relies on donations, memberships, event and rental fees and thrift shop revenue to pay for day-to-day operations and special programs. Accounting for 42 percent of the $750,000 budget, the thrift shop is the largest single funding source. And it’s mostly staffed by volunteers.
“The volunteers are the heartbeat of our association,” Executive Director Karla Jacks said. “We could not do what we do in this community without them.”
In 2013, volunteers put in more than 14,000 hours at the thrift shop and nearly 5,000 hours at the center, according to the association.
The center’s programs include memory loss support groups, safe driving classes, Meals on Wheels, fitness and crafting classes, and lending libraries for books and for medical equipment. The center also has a disaster registry and a check-in program called Camano Connections, where someone calls or stops by six days a week to make sure participants are OK. For homebound seniors or people with disabilities, having someone to rely on is critical, Jacks said.
“Our theme is kind of aging in place,” she said.
Volunteers for Camano Connection, Meals on Wheels and other programs can contact the center at 360-387-0222 or go to www.camanocenter.org. The same number and website provides information about Second Chance Thrift Shop.
At the shop, volunteers sort, clean and repair donations. They also price items, run the cash register, answer questions, field phone calls and swap out inventory if things fail to sell.
“They do pretty much everything,” manager Roxanne Robertson-Moore said.
The shop carries a variety of goods, from office supplies and kitchen utensils to bed sheets and vases. It has clothes, toys, board games, furniture, decorations and home supplies, such as plumbing supplies and window frames.
“It’s almost like a small department store,” Robertson-Moore said. “It’s a handy place to look for a bargain on almost anything.”
The shop collects some oddities, too. The weirdest so far has been a whale harpoon, Robertson-Moore said. She’s also sorted Japanese-style swords, sand art and an ornately carved Chinese mirror. The most valuable items often are set aside for an annual fundraising auction. That’s where the harpoon ended up.
“There was quite a battle over that one,” Robertson-Moore said. “You never know what you’re going to find here. It’s so much fun.”
The shop gets about 60 volunteers a week. The association relies on people who can come in at the same time on the same days each week, so one-time or temporary volunteers aren’t the best fit. Many of the regulars are at least 70 years old, Robertson-Moore said, and the store could use a few more people who can lift and haul heavy items.
Robertson-Moore is one of four paid staff who supervise operations at the store.
“We try to make it as positive a culture as possible,” she said. “Our volunteers come from every walk of life.”
For retiree Raymond Kanarick, 89, volunteering at the shop is a chance to keep busy and keep up with friends. He knows all the regular customers.
“I’m a social person,” he said. “And when you have people coming in here looking for treasures every day, you get acquainted.”
The store is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and takes donations Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or until storage space runs out.
“It’s a pretty well-oiled machine, so if one person is missing, it really slows things down,” Robertson-Moore said.
Saturday is one of their busiest days, but that’s the day when they have the fewest volunteers, she said. They’d welcome some new faces.
The center previously received some money from Island County, comprising 4 percent of its budget. That funding ends this year, making the thrift store revenue more important than ever, Jacks said. Growing the store means growing the association’s volunteer base.
Pat Colvard volunteers at the front desk of the center and enjoys seeing familiar faces and helping people she cares about in her community. The center and shop have a strong team of volunteers, she said. She’s been part of it for more than two years.
“It’s just as much as benefit for me as for the other people,” Colvard said. “There are some great people who walk in here.”
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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