July 10 2010, Milton Thrift Store anniversary event.
On a beautiful, hot and
sunny summer day, the Milton Thrift Store celebrated its third anniversary at 400-420 Main Street, in the heart of Milton.
The store was decorated from
top to bottom with bright balloons and streamers, tents were set up outside
where special sale racks enticed passers-by and hotdogs and hamburgers cooked
on the barbeque, with proceeds going to the stores sponsored child.
“I love the excitement of an
event like this,” Store Manager Judy Harrison shared. “It’s so nice to meet with
all of our guests and celebrate together, especially on a beautiful day like
today.”
The store was full with
countless guests, out to celebrate and shop at their community Thrift Store. “I’m
here from Saskatoon!” a guest laughed with a bundle of clothing over her
arm. “Milton is my hometown, and this has always been my
favourite store – I can’t come back without stopping by!”
The cheerful atmosphere was
certainly felt throughout the day by guests and staff alike, as they chatted, snacked
and of course, shopped!
There has been an evolving
trend in the hotel business to do things in a green manner and to reduce the
industries carbon footprint. For Earth Week, Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton
– TorontoAirport has managed to improve on this idea by going green while giving back to
the community through a generous donation in-kind to The Salvation Army.
The Hampton Inn & Suites
by Hilton – TorontoAirport has just announced a donation in-kind to The Salvation Army of: linens,
toiletries and equipment. These items are typically replaced on a regular basis
and previously may have found their way to a local landfill. Hampton Inn &
Suites by Hilton – TorontoAirport has partnered
with The Salvation Army to donate these items and in doing so, helped support
the country’s largest provider of social programs, outside of the government,
and at the same time reduce what is sent to local landfills.
“This donation is quite
generous and appreciated. The sale of these items in our Thrift Stores will
give our customers even greater access to good quality inexpensive household
goods while helping to raise proceeds that support food banks, shelters and
children’s camps,” said Bill May, Facilities and Logistics Manager for The
Salvation Army’s Central Ontario Recycling Centre.
“The Hampton Inn &
Suites by Hilton – TorontoAirport is very happy to donate and help out the local
community,” addressed Anna Hollas, Director of Sales.
On April
14, 2010 a team
of Scotiabank employees took a day out of their busy schedules to volunteer at Toronto’s Parkdale Thrift Store. Representing
the team, we spoke with Giselle Piepp, a Senior Manager in Global Risk
Management, who took a moment to answer some of our questions regarding her
team’s inspirational volunteer initiatives.
1.
What interested you in volunteering with one of our Salvation Army Thrift
Stores?
Scotiabank
employees play a considerable role in the communities where they work and live,
by participating in helping their communities in different capacities.
In this
particular case our team selected, for the second year in a row, the Parkdale
Salvation Army Thrift Store as an opportunity to connect and have a meaningful
impact on the Toronto community
where we work.
We are aware
that the Thrift Stores generate funds to support Salvation Army services and
programs across Canada so, we were
extremely happy to help by donating used items, and by volunteering like we did
on April 14, 2010.
2. How did you arrange this volunteer
event with The Salvation Army, and how did you pull your Scotiabank team
together to take part?
We arranged
things directly with the Parkdale Store. It has such a friendly and
hard-working staff,lead by Kyle the Store Manager, who was
(gladly) able to accommodate us.
Our team’s
philanthropic spirit believes that contributing to the well-being of our
communities not only takes place during the holiday’s season, but all year
round.
In March 2009,
our team participated in a week-long clothing drive, donated those items to the
Parkdale Thrift Store, as well as volunteered at the store. At that time, we
also made a point to take a look into the future and commit ourselves to
volunteering again in 2010.
3.
What is your favourite part of the work you do while volunteering at the Thrift
Store?
Besidesorganizing the furniture section, cleaning
shelves, organizing electronics, toys, books, china,shoes’ section, cleaning windows, etc; the
most important part is being able to see that we do has an impact in our
community when we volunteer.
4.
How did you find the staff and management team while you spent the day
volunteering?
This is the
second time that we have volunteered at the Parkdale Store, and we were glad to
see the staff remained basically unchanged. Kyle, the Store Manager, Collin,
and the other staff members are always on top of everything in a professional
way. We see they are well liked by their customers who seem to be familiar with
them. We enjoyed working for them. When we arrived, they were ready and waiting
for us with a list of ‘chores’ that were assigned to our group for the day.
Time is priceless so that guided us to do what was most needed.
5.
Is there anything you have learned by volunteering with us?
We will
continue to encourage and support volunteering, donating and being actively
involved in our communities, among our team and colleagues. We definitely see
that a small contribution can make a big difference in our communities.
A special thank
you to volunteer team members:
Chuck Gervais, Anita
Sittambalam, Wayne Horchover, Alberto Martinez, Andrew Collins, Giselle Piepp, Dianne Rudderham
T-Stories 
