Op Shop supported by generous community
Serving the community is front of mind for volunteers at the Neerim South Opportunity Shop, which is run by St John's Cooperative Church.
The same could be said for the Neerim district community, who seem to be set on supporting the shop, which is the only one in the small town.
Since reopening after pandemic lockdowns the shop has been inundated with a "steady stream" of generous donations, keeping the 40 odd volunteers busy sorting, cleaning and tagging items.
"We have great community support," said volunteer Beth Delzoppo, who is the woman behind the shop's speciality jams and preserves - which are also made possible by community donations.
"I rarely buy fruit because people give me them .... in the summertime they give me raspberries and tomatoes," Mrs Delzoppo said.
"Occasionally I'll buy boxes of apricots in the summertime."
The jars used for the many preserves, jams, chutneys and relishes available to purchase are also donated, with the most popular items being marmalade, in-season berry jam, onion relish and lemon and lime butter.
Volunteer Caz Evans said they "go like hotcakes", with some customers coming regularly from places like Hawtho’rn to stock up.
Aside from the delicious treats served up by Mrs Delzoppo, the shop stock a variety of wonderful and wacky items.
Ms Evans said the shop often gets a lot of items from people's travels, like wall hanging depicting samurais and other genuine items you cannot find in Australia, while Mrs Delzoppo remarked that the shop often receives attractive glassware.
Common donations include clothes, kitchen goods, household goods, manchester, books, CDs, DVDs, records and children's toys.
Items are priced according to condition and market price, with children's books and clothes marked down significantly.
Ms Evan's said children's books can be as low as 50 cents.
All items are sorted, inspected and cleaned by volunteers. Some of them do regular shifts in the shop front, while others work behind the scenes.
"There are various people who can't come in and commit themselves to a few hours a day but they are happy to take something home and clean it," said volunteer Dilys Price.
Several volunteers regularly pick up items like children's toys, shoes, and bikes to fix or clean before bringing them back to the shop, while others are involved with sorting the donations as they come in.
Mrs Delzoppo, Ms Evans and Ms Price all agree that the op shop is thriving in its fairly new purpose-built space - which is only four years old.
Before taking up residency in the current location, next to St John's on Main Neerim Road, the shop was set up in several places, including an old room at the back of St John's Cooperative Church, an old chemist and various other places.
Their current set-up allows them to separate items for sorting, sort items yet to hit the shelves, and have more items on display.
Mrs Delzoppo said the shop is always looking for more volunteers, and anyone interested in lending a hand can approach those inside the shop with inquiries.
The shop operates from Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm and Saturday mornings.