Keeping our valued volunteers informed
GM’s Corner
Here we are into the last two months of the fiscal year. It has been quite the year with donations being low in the summer and then our focus on ensuring that items donated get to the floor as quickly as possible. We are very pleased to say that we have surpassed the $1,000,000 sales mark in the shop and are heading in the right direction for the end of the year. You may see that once I think of a theme for the newsletter article, I connect with my friend Google and search out quotations and themes to help enhance my writing. For this month I thought I would search out love and volunteerism. There were pages and pages to review and I was so lucky there is enough to fill a few newsletters but I won’t.
The quotation that I discovered many years ago when visiting upstate New York at the National Women’s Rights National Historical Park was: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead. This quotation was a guiding light to me for so many years. Others quotations that are worth sharing are:
• Helping others can boost your happiness! According to one study, happiness levels rose by 12% for those who volunteer every two to four weeks.
• “Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to matter—to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.” – Leo Rosten
• “If you want to touch the past, touch a rock. If you want to touch the present, touch a flower. If you want to touch the future, touch a life.” – Author Unknown
• “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.” – Mother Teresa
The following statistic helps to share a good indication of why volunteering is valuable in your life:
What if volunteering didn’t just make your life better in all sorts of amazing ways, but it also made it longer?
One study of active 90- and 100-year olds published on BigThink.com showed that those who remain devoted to a purpose in life live longer and happier. It might not be the secret to eternal life, but who wouldn’t want to potentially live a longer and happier life?
So, in addition to the shop successes, volunteering helps to lengthen your happy life. What wonderful news this is! Thank you once again for all that you do, and in this month of LOVE, we want to share our love and gratitude for your time and talents that are shared each and every day.
Blessings on a fantastic February.
Debbie Siertsema General Manager MCC Thrift & Gift
February blahs got you down?
Let’s get through it together!
You may have heard about the January Blues and Blue Monday which was on January 20. The term “Blue Monday” was coined in 2005 by Dr. Cliff Arnall, a British psychologist. He developed a formula that calculated the third Monday in January as the most depressing day of the year. The formula took into account factors like weather, debt, time since Christmas and low motivation.
Well, while we here at MCC Thrift & Gift may not be able to help with all those things, we certainly
can work together to bring joy and laughter into our space together! This month in the break area, you will notice little hearts on the table. We want to celebrate love and the things that bring us joy. I am not simply referencing the romance type of love but rather all things love-related. Perhaps it’s your favourite activity, song, memory, friend group, book club and so on! Grab a heart, fill it out and post it up on our “Seasons of Love” wall! We can’t wait to read your submissions.
Volunteer Spotlight
This month we would like to thank all of our volunteers who come to us through Community Living. This partnership has been going on for years and we are thrilled to continue it this year. By working together, we provide a safe space for adults to gain life skills and have an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to their local communities.
We currently have 6 adults who work with us and we would like to thank them for their hard work,
laughter, and dedication to helping our store become the best it can be.
They are as follows: Erin, Margaret, Karen & Eileen who all work with our production team and Monday morning take-off. Kyle and Ron both work in receiving and assist in taking out garbage, greeting donors, and filling our backroom with loud, consistent conversation!
Thank you all for your help!
