Traf Opportunity Shop a pillar of the community
For volunteers at Trafalgar Opportunity Shop, serving the community is a top priority.
Tucked away in Contingent St Trafalgar, the small store with deep green signage embodies a traditional opportunity shop experience.
Inside there are hundreds of pieces of women’s and men’s clothing, homewares, accessories and much more.
However, it is not just the items for purchase that make the shop and its volunteers such a pillar of the community.
Committee president Glenys Brennan said that since the shop opened in 1998 it had gone from “strength to strength”.
“It was started by a group of ladies in 1998 to raise money for Andrews House and the Trafalgar Youth Resource Centre,” she explained.
“It got bigger and bigger, and West Gippsland Healthcare Group decided to help us.”
The former owner of the opportunity shop became a resident of Andrews House, which is a residential aged care facility in Trafalgar owned by the West Gippsland Healthcare Group.
Andrews House provides 24 hours clinical and personal care for its residents and has been a part of the opportunity shop’s story from the very beginning.
Mrs Brennan said when the owner died, the shop went up for sale and the healthcare group “kindly” purchased it for the volunteers.
The shop still maintains an independent committee while being supported by the organisation.
Mrs Brennan said she worked with “dedicated people” who have developed great friendships and working relationships with each other over the years.
There are eight people on the committee and 22 volunteers - some of whom have volunteered since the store opened.
Volunteers each have their own jobs and a spot on the roster - even those who are unable to do a shift behind the counter do their bit. A number of volunteers take home items that need to be checked, sorted or cleaned.
Mrs Brennan said the store receives a lot of community support, in more ways than one.
“We get a lot of local support because they know that money stays in the town.”
“Ladies bring us in cakes for morning tea, and the next thing I’ve got a coffee coming around the corner.”
Mrs Brennan said that on one occasion a generous person put some money on a tab in a local coffee shop so volunteers could have coffees free of charge.
During the pandemic, the shop doubled as a drop-in location for community members to get help with things like setting up the Service Victoria app on their phones.
Contrary to what some may think, the store actually had more people wanting to donate during the pandemic than usual.
Mrs Brennan attributes the change to people taking the time at home to sort through their things.