The Grand Forks Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Shop is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The original thrift shop opened three afternoons a week in 1963 in rented space, netting at that time $130 per month with a membership of approximately 34 volunteers.
In August of 1981, a small downtown lot was purchased and with the very generous support of local community businesses and private individuals with money, labour and materials, the dream of the auxiliary owning its own shop was realized.
The new thrift shop opened its doors at its current location on March 5, 1984.
The thrift shop has steadily grown over the years, with a current membership of 100 volunteers. In 2012, these members volunteered a total of 31,574 hours.
The auxiliary’s goal is to stock the store with clean, re-useable goods. The generous support and donations from the community make this possible. The purpose of the non-profit society is to raise funds to provide comfort and aid to Boundary Hospital patients and to financially support health-related programs within the Boundary and West Kootenay areas of the Interior Health region.
Support and generous donations from the community make it possible! In 2012, the thrift shop was able to contribute $118,974 for equipment for Boundary Hospital, $10,172 to the Digital Mammography Campaign, $3,250 for Christmas Comforts for both Hardy View and Boundary Lodges and $4,000 in scholarship money to Grand Forks and Midway students entering the medical services field.
Written by Grand Forks Hospital Auxiliary