St. Vincent de Paul | Louisville

Brimming with everything from sofas and small appliances to clothing and cookware, St. Vincent de Paul’s four area Thrift Stores fulfill many important purposes.

First, by keeping our store shelves stocked with quality donated merchandise, we can offer great buys for bargain hunters as well as an affordable shopping alternative for low-income customers who need basic household furnishings and other goods.
Second, the income generated from our thrift store operations helps fund the varied programs we offer our clients. These services range from providing two free meals a day in our Open Hand Kitchen, to shelter and housing for people with nowhere else to go, and case management designed to help clients who have fallen on hard times get back on their feet.
“A steady stream of all types of donated merchandise is critical for the stores to remain successful,” said Randy Nord, director of stores. He oversees a staff of 17 full-time and nine part-time employees, plus about 15 volunteers.

Gently used clothing is usually in generous supply, while less plentiful — especially at this time of the year — are donations of the other kinds of items needed to fill our store space. For example, clean, used furniture in good condition is always needed, along with things like working appliances, dishes, towels, linens, toys, games, pictures, wall décor, sports equipment, jewelry and collectibles.
Furniture and large items are inspected for quality prior to being accepted. Items are tested to assure they work. Others are cleaned to bring out their full value, Nord explains. Donations that we can sell are priced and placed in the stores for sale.
St. Vincent de Paul supporters can help us cut expenses by keeping a few considerations in mind. Because we do not advertise (allowing more income to go toward our programs), we depend on word-of-mouth to build support for our retail operations.
Donors can also help in our efforts to keep other operating costs down. For instance, because non-clothing donations often fall short of our needs, employees in trucks are scheduled to pick up these items from donors unable to bring them to one of our stores. To do this, we incur such costs as personnel, insurance, fuel and maintenance.
Other thrift store chains in the Louisville area may have many more locations and slightly more convenient drop-off sites, but Nord encourages St. Vincent de Paul donors to think of us first.
“We need many more people to keep SVDP in mind when they have merchandise to donate, and many more people to be willing to drive a little farther, occasionally, to drop off merchandise at one of our store locations,” he says.
People who donate belongings to St. Vincent de Paul can rest assured that we will be good stewards with these resources, Nord adds.
With diligent efficiency, we strive to maximize every single donation -- and to stretch every Thrift Store sales dollar -- as far as possible, thereby ensuring we’re helping as many people as we can. For more info: 502.589.7837.

Read the entire March newsletter: March2010.pdf