Garfield Community Shop

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SPECIAL COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT

The Garfield Community Shop opened its doors in December 2012 and since then has been raising money to support the local community by providing goods for purchase at a low cost to customers. This small not-for-profit shop, run solely by volunteers, has been able to contribute a total of nearly $340,000 in it’s 10 years of operation. This has been in the form of grants and joint funding of projects such as the exercise and playground equipment situated at the Garfield Recreation Reserve.

Nowadays people seem to be more aware of where and what they are spending their money on and realize the benefits of buying secondhand goods. Not only does this practice help their money go further, but it also helps the local community and lessens the impact on the environment.

Community Shops not only provide items for sale at greatly reduced costs, they serve as a social avenue for not just the volunteers, but also the customers. Many locals pop in regularly for a chat, as well as regulars from further afar who enjoy the friendly atmosphere provided by the volunteers.

Over time the shop has received huge support, raising the need to relocate to larger premises 5 years ago. There are a lot of preloved items crammed into the current shop waiting for someone to give them a new home. New items are constantly being donated.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say and enormous “thank you” to everyone for supporting what started out as an idea to see if we could run our own community-based op shop, replacing the one that was run by a larger operation. What an awesome community we have.

-- Helen Davey (Manager)