Although renovations are still not 100 per cent complete, the Burns Lake Thrift Shop is up and running again on Fourth Avenue.
The thrift shop temporarily relocated to the Lakeview Mall last October so that 1120 square feet and a basement could be added to the back of the Fourth Avenue building.
“We’re all very happy to be back,” said Donna Paynton with the Burns Lake and District Healthcare Auxiliary, the group that runs the Burns Lake Thrift Shop.
In addition to having more space, Paynton said the building now looks brighter since the lights were replaced and the walls were repainted.
Paynton said the healthcare auxiliary received plenty of help from community members while they were moving from one location to another, including a number of men.
“A lot of people who don’t normally volunteer came to help us,” she said. “We had a tremendous group of volunteers here.”
While the thrift shop was undergoing its $250,000 renovation, residents were asked to hold back their donation items until the renovation was completed. As a result, the thrift shop has been overwhelmed with donations since it reopened last week.
“Now the donations are increasing day by day,” said Paynton.
The healthcare auxiliary is currently looking for new volunteers to help with the workload. Although there are approximately 20 members and 40 volunteers, their average age is 75.
“Our people are getting older and we need younger volunteers.”
The healthcare auxiliary spent months searching for a bigger location for its thrift shop before it decided to expand the Fourth Avenue building last year.
Item donations have been progressively increasing over the past five years. Since there was not enough space to store all donations, many items ended up being shipped to organizations such as the Salvation Army while other items were recycled.
Although the thrift store has more shelf space now, volunteers say there’s still not enough room to display all the items that they receive.
“But this [expansion] will have to be enough for now,” said Paynton.
Burns Lake company Big Dog Construction was hired to do the renovation. The company is currently finishing up the exterior of the building and they expect to complete the project by mid-April.
For more information on how to volunteer or how to make a donation, contact Jeanie Reimer at 250-692-3616.
