When most items are priced at a few dollars – or even a few cents – it takes a lot of sales to add up to $1 million.

Monday night, St. Mary’s Auxiliary, which operates St. Mary’s Hospice House Thrift Store on Broad Street, celebrated making the tens of thousands of sales needed to hit that milestone.

“I am in awe of what you, as volunteers, do,” St. Mary’s Vice President for Human Resources Jeff English told the crowd gathered for the celebration in St. Mary’s lobby atrium. “We are forever grateful. On behalf of everyone at St. Mary’s and St. Mary’s Hospice Services, it is my honor to say thank you.” 

“The credit goes to all of our wonderful thrift store volunteers who make this store possible,” said Pat Schlotzhauer, chair of the Auxiliary’s Thrift Store Committee and one of more than 30 volunteers who keep the store open five days a week. “We are blessed with a dedicated and hard-working group of volunteers who are committed to raising funds for St. Mary’s Hospice.” 

The thrift store was first envisioned in 2007. Then-Auxiliary President Wanda Lash-Sorenson pitched the idea to the Auxiliary Board as a way to raise funds for St. Mary’s Hospice, which provides care to anyone with a life-limiting condition, regardless of their ability to pay. Noting that the Athens area did not have a high-end thrift store, Lash-Sorenson felt there was an empty niche in the market that the Auxiliary could fill.

The Auxiliary Board agreed, and a few months later, the Board of Directors of St. Mary’s Health Care System gave its official consent. St. Mary’s agreed to let the Auxiliary use a recently acquired storefront on Broad Street and provided labor from its Engineering staff to renovate the facility. A loan to cover the cost of renovation was provided by St. Mary’s Foundation, and the store opened on April 22, 2008. 

It was an instant success. In the store’s first six weeks, volunteers sold $17,268 worth of goods.

“An incredible amount of volunteer work goes into each sale,” said Cindy Colley, manager of St. Mary’s Gift Shop and Thrift Store, who has provided professional assistance to the store since 2011. “Donated items have to be solicited, checked for quality, cleaned, sorted, priced, displayed and sold. The average item is priced at less than $10, so our volunteers had to move more than 100,000 items to reach this milestone.” 

The store covers its own expenses, from keeping the lights on to paying back the loan that funded the initial renovations, which it did in just a few years. Even after deducting all expenses, the volunteers have been able to generate more than $561,000 for St. Mary’s Hospice Services.

“The funds you have raised have been a huge help to us and to our patients,” said Karen Joyce, director of St. Mary’s Home Health Care/Hospice Services. “Because of your support, we are able to provide care in our hospice house to people with no money and no insurance who can’t remain in their own homes or have no home to remain in. You help give dignity, comfort and hope to people who are in desperate circumstances.” 

Addressing the volunteers Tuesday, English said, “Jesus tells his disciples, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.... Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.’ The seed you planted has grown into a mighty tree. You have tended the garden and made this day possible. Today’s success is your success. This is your moment. Thank you.”