Community
Longtimers keep Gig Harbor thrift shop thriving
The thrift store on Kimball Drive is all decked out for the holidays.
It’s the quintessential recycling shop, with clothing, books, jewelry, collectables, tableware, linens, toys and, these days, lots of items that will make local homes merry and bright.
The shop is run by Peninsula Orthopedic Guild, founded more than 70 years ago. Proceeds from sales go to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma.
In the early years, the Guild held bake sales, sold dish towels and wrapping paper and put out penny jars to raise money. Today, the only project is the thrift store.
The Mary Bridge Thrift Shop is “just a little store where big things happen.” Charlee Glock-Jackson / Gig Harbor Now
According to longtime volunteer Christa Leathers, 100% of the profits generated from the store go to Mary Bridge. Leathers is one of half a dozen guild members who, collectively, have volunteered at the shop — they call it a boutique — for nearly 200 years.
Leathers and Mary Ellen Carpenter have each volunteered for 39 years, Ingrid Hartman for 42 years and Donna Doherty for 43 years. Judy Delaney and Wanita Martinelli are relative newcomers with 19 years and 14 years, respectively, and the most recent arrival, Charlotte Yordy, has been helping for just over a year.
These ladies have volunteered at the Mary Bridge Thrift Shop on Kimball drive for a collective total of nearly 200 years. Charlee Glock-Jackson / Gig Harbor Now
Like several of the other women, Leathers was “a war bride” and, as a military wife, never had a full-time job outside the home.
“We didn’t work, but we always did volunteer work,” she said. “We all did whatever was needed, whether it was helping at a school or at a local thrift shop or whatever.”
Carpenter was also a military wife who volunteered for various groups wherever her husband was stationed. Coincidentally, her husband and Leathers’ were stationed together in Germany, but the wives didn’t meet until both families moved to Gig Harbor and they started working at the thrift shop.
Christa Leathers takes care of the jewelry department at the thrift store. She has volunteered at the shop for 39 years. Charlee Glock-Jackson / Gig Harbor Now
That tradition of volunteering continues today at the thrift shop where each woman is more or less in charge of a different department — shoes, men’s clothing, women’s clothing, books, toys, housewares, jewelry, collectables and so forth.
Leathers is responsible for collectables and jewelry, and goes to the shop every morning around 8 o’clock to restock and arrange items. Others keep similar schedules. And on Mondays, when the shop is closed, everyone arrives early to tidy up, sort through new items and have coffee and crumpets together when the work is finished.
“Everyone has to work in the store at least one full day a month, or two half days,” Leathers said.
Donna Doherty has volunteered at the thrift store for 43 years. She manages the linens department. Charlee Glock-Jackson / Gig Harbor Now
Each woman has her own reasons for volunteering, but they also share many. For Leathers, it’s a way to give back to the community in which she and her late husband made their post-military home.
“And I’ve always felt so fortunate to live in America and in Gig Harbor, so this lets me give something back,” she said.
The friendships she has made with the other volunteers are also very special.
“We get together for dinner and we travel together. It really nourishes me and I feel like our work also nourishes our community,” she said.
Ingrid Hartman takes care of the toy department. She has volunteered at the shop for 42 years. Charlee Glock-Jackson / Gig Harbor Now
Carpenter had similar feelings.
“I really enjoy working with these women and I like the idea that we’re helping low-income families find nice, affordable toys and clothes and other things,” she said. “And we have lots of wonderful customers that we’ve sort of gotten to know.”
Doherty shared that sentiment.
“One of my most special memories is from quite a few years ago when one of our customers told me that she has six kids, and if it wasn’t for our store, they wouldn’t be able to dress as well as they did. She was so grateful to us for being here,” Doherty said, adding that the community seems “to think highly of us because we give to Mary Bridge and they know that’s a good cause.”
For Hartman, one of the reasons she has volunteered for so many years is that she knows the shop is helping all the kids that go to Mary Bridge for care.
“This is our gift to all those children,” she said. “And I like the feeling of knowing I’m helping others. Volunteering grows on you.”
Ninety-five-year-old Mary Ellen Carpenter has volunteered at the thrift store since 1982. Charlee Glock-Jackson / Gig Harbor Now
Volunteering at the store also gives the ladies an incentive to get up and head out the door every morning.
“Especially for those of us who have lost our spouses, we look forward to going to the shop,” Leathers said. “Otherwise we might be sitting around in our bathrobes until noon every day.”
Yordy, the newest member, decided to help at the store because she, too, felt it was time to start giving back to her community.
“Christa approached me and suggested I come and volunteer here,” she said. “I was a customer here for 20 years so I knew it was a good place, and I feel like I just fit right in. I like what we do and the friendships we have together. It’s just a privilege to work here and to know these ladies.”
Delaney was quick to acknowledge the people of Gig Harbor.
“Without such a generous, caring community, we couldn’t contribute what we do. We love our community and our customers,” she said.
The thrift store accepts donations on Mondays and Thursdays.
“Donations have gotten much more manageable since we switched to a two-days-per-week donation schedule and put a rope across the entrance to the parking lot,” Leathers said. “Now there are a lot fewer junk items being donated.”
In the past, it seemed that some people used the donation box as their trash can, she said.
Wanita Martinelli, left, has volunteered at the shop for 14 years. Newcomer Charlotte Yordy joined the group a year ago, after shopping at the store for 20 years. Charlee Glock-Jackson / Gig Harbor Now
The guild ladies gave a presentation at a recent City Council meeting describing the work they do, and the good things that their guild does. Theirs is one of 30 guilds in Pierce County, “but we give more to Mary Bridge than all the other guilds combined,” Leathers said.
Among the many things the guild’s contributions make possible is helping kids who have leg or foot problems to procure special corrective shoes.
“We give the kids vouchers to go to Nordstrom’s and their suppliers build shoes that look like the current styles, so the kids can have shoes that look just like what their classmates are wearing,” Leathers said.
Guild donations have also contributed to a new Mary Bridge hospital that will open in 2024. According to their City Council presentation, it will be one of the most advanced in the nation, with all medical services housed in a single building.
“We’re just a little shop where big things happen,” Leathers said.