LaVone VonBergen, volunteer, chats with a customer about vegetarian food selections. Several people peruse newly organized clothing racks, kitchen goods and bookshelves. Times are exciting at Spruced Up Thrift Shop, a thrift store ministry of the North Cascade Church in Burlington, Wash.
Beyond offering inexpensive shopping, Spruced Up helps the Skagit Valley community by offering gift certificates for prescreened individuals and families to shop for necessities, like interview clothing and blankets, while providing a free box of basic items for anyone needing them. Extra funds from the store are donated to approved charities and causes such as Skagit Adventist School's Worthy Student Fund, the church's Kingdom Assignments (an outreach program), and the Job Corps.
This last winter, Spruced Up expanded next door into the previous Burlington Adventist Book Center storefront to double its store space. Volunteers moved the children's section, reorganized a new kitchen area and filled the new portion of the store with additional merchandise.
Spruced Up Thrift Shop was established in 1996 as an outreach providing goods and services at low cost to people in need. The store offers a wide selection of clothing, toys, dishes, books, furniture, vegetarian food and more. Learn more at http://thriftshop.floft.net.
Alice Pitts, a North Cascade Church member, works in the newly expanded Spruced Up Thrift Store in Burlington, Wash. (Jenny Welch)
Spruced Up Thrift Store is a ministry of the North Cascade Adventist Church in Burlington, Wash., and provides a wide selection of low-cost goods and services. (Jenny Welch)
