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Make a Difference in Your Life & Community
By donating your gently used goods to or volunteering with Little Ozzie's Family Thrift Store (LOFTS) you are not only contributing to the community but to yourself as well. We are community, we are family.
Read how we are all making a difference in our community.
The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own. ~ Disraeli
Monday to Sunday, 9AM to 5PM.
Because we are reselling quality used merchandise to our community members, please ensure they are gently used and clean; nothing broken, stained or ripped.
We accept the following merchandise at LOFTS:
- Clothing and footwear
- Books & housewares
- Cookware
- Furniture and bed frames (no box springs or mattresses please)
- Toys
- Knick knacks
- Others
If you have items that are not on our list please feel free to give us a call.
Unfortunately, due to government safety regulations or our storeroom and showroom size restrictions there are some items that we cannot resell.
We cannot accept the following items at LOFTS:
- Baby cribs or car seats
- Beds (give us a call and we can direct you to a place you can drop off your mattresses and box springs)
- Large appliances (such as refrigerators and freezers, stoves and dishwashers)
- Microwaves must be within 5 years old
- TVs must have be within 7 years old
There are a number of items that are most needed for our community:
These items include:
- Clothing (all ages for the entire family)
- Shoes and Boots
- Bedding and Towels
- Cooking utensils, pots and pans
- New/gently used toys
- Personal care items
We also accept items for our local Food Bank and have a drop box near our customer service centre. Please feel free to drop a non-perishable item. Some things that are especially appreciated are personal care items as well like toothpaste and sanitary products. All donations are appreciated!
What happens to your donated Merchandise?
When we accept donated items we ensure that they meet our quality standards. They are sorted and cleaned. All clothing, bedding and towels are laundered. Merchandise is then priced and placed on the floor for sale to our community members and made available to our volunteers.
We do not have the manpower to repair or mend items that are not acceptable and that we cannot resell. When unacceptable items are donated to us we incur the cost of disposal and thus it takes funds away from the community which it would otherwise go to. Please be considerate of the condition of your donated items.
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
If we have merchandise that does not sell or needs to be disposed of we ensure that nothing goes to the landfill. We will pass on the items to other outlets who may be able to use them or they go to recycling. We try our best to be good stewards.
Did you know?
By recycling one aluminum can we can save enough energy to run a television for 3 hours!
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Volunteering
Aside from myself and one other paid staff member, our store is operated by volunteers. We love and appreciate our volunteers! They are members of our community and are the heartbeat of Little Ozzie's Family Thrift Store.
Our volunteer program helps some of our most vulnerable community citizens. In turn, with the help of our volunteers we are able to work with local charities and non-profit organizations and we offer them a percentage of proceeds from the sale of donated goods (from you!) to assist them with their work. How can we all not feel good about that? It's really a special place to work.
We don't always have opening for Volunteers, as we have a number of them working with us currently, but you are always welcomed to join us. The more the merrier and we really are a happy bunch! Many members say they look forward to coming to work at LOFTS. If you are interested in volunteering or would like to request more information please contact Jackie at 250-123-4567 or use the form on our Contact Us page »
Our volunteers have much to gain when volunteering with LOFTS.
How volunteering can help you:
- Meet and work with some great people
- Make new friends
- Learn new skills
- Gain valuable experience in retail sales
- Feel good about yourself, feel appreciated, boost your confidence - feel proud!
- Make a difference within your community
If you haven't already you can read more about us on our About Us page »
Volunteer Opportunities
Our volunteers work in the clean store and stockroom (we have no cold warehouses or back rooms!) to organize and display our merchandise, create and maintain a clean and professional atmosphere (it's a fun place!), and assist our customers with their inquiries and purchases. We sometimes have special sales events instore where we have our volunteers create signs and other promotional material, make coffee and greet our customers.
We would like to hear about your special talents and are always open to suggestions to make the volunteer and shopping experience more fun and family oriented.
Give us a call at 250-123-4567 or use the form on our Contact Us page »
We have Free Parking and are Wheelchair accessible.
News From Around Our Community
We like to share good news from around our community. If you have an idea or story we would love to hear from you.
Jenny's Story - A Local Woman's Success Story
Jenny (not her real name) was a local homeless gal in her late 40's who came into our thrift store regularly to buy the odd piece of clothing or just have a coffee with us. She was a happy soul considering the life she lived. Being homeless was showing on her face and she looked so tired. I felt bad for her.
In our conversations, Jenny told me how she used to work hard in the logging camps cooking and cleaning to make a good away-from-home experience for the guys who lived there, and a comfortable but meager living for herself. Upon having lost her job and not having much luck at finding other work she soon found herself in dire straits. She was also suffering from some chronic health conditions which prevented her from taking just any type of work and she found her age to be an issue with some employers.
I mentioned to Jenny that we have volunteer positions that offered incentives and that she was welcome to try it out as we would love to have her. She jumped at the opportunity.
Jenny connected with a local organization that helps women with shelter and she was off the streets.
She worked with us for about a year when a great opportunity passed her way and she was offered a job with a local pet store. Working with pets was one of Jenny’s passions and she was so very happy. Things were finally coming together for Jenny.
It's been 2 years since that time and Jenny still works at the pet store. We are so very happy for her and are proud of her accomplishments. You go Jenny!
Not everyone has it easy today and sometimes we need a hand up. We at Little Ozzie's Family Thrift Store are proud to work with members and organizations in our community. In the end it's about family, because we all live here.
