Beacon of Hope Pine Island Attic Thrift Store is at 5090 Doug Taylor Circle, St. James City. PAULETTE LEBLANC

According to Beacon of Hope Board President Caryle Regan, an enormous portion of revenue for the organization (approximately 70 percent) comes from the Pine Island Attic Thrift Store, which was closed for eight consecutive weeks during the pandemic.

Through today, July 1, the store was open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Starting Monday, July 6, the store will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Although the income-generating thrift store was closed, as Beacon Board member Elsie Stearns points out, the community programs kept going with employees who still needed to be paid.

“The people who worked here during that time,” said Stearns, speaking of the pandemic, “the directors of the center of excellence, the community programs and the thrift store, as well as other employees, deserve much credit for donating their pay back to the Beacon.”

Stearns explained that after they were paid, they chose to write checks and donate back to the Beacon. Help did come with the approval of a PPP loan, she said, enabling the Beacon to cover the interest on the mortgage and utilities. Now that the thrift store has reopened, the board looks forward to being better able to fund its programs for the good of islanders.

A wide variety of items are available in the Attic Thrift Store. PAULETTE LEBLANC

“Our hope is that people will come back to shop,” said Stearns. “Obviously we’re doing everything we can do as far as safety precautions.”

Ray West, director of the thrift store, added that although face masks are optional, the staff and most of the customers wear them. There are also directional arrows on the floor, as most grocery stores currently use. He asks that the community be aware that if they donate during rainy days on the weekends, the items donated will be ruined, as no one will be there to bring them inside.

“I sanitize as much as I can,” said West. “Fortunately, before the pandemic, I just happened to buy a lot of wipes and hand sanitizer, which I would buy anyway. But we do sanitize the door handles and bathroom as much as possible.”

Stearns said anonymous donations received through this difficult time period have been extraordinary.

“It’s been so heartwarming,” said Stearns. “The community has always supported us and our hope is that by December we can have our Holiday House Event, because that is our largest fundraiser.”

shoppers browse through the thrift store PAULETTE LEBLANC

Regan and Stearns explained that quarterly fundraising events are in the near future for the Beacon, as it’s been difficult to do anything for the past few months. West added that his hope is that the new thrift store hours beginning in July will provide some much needed funding through the summer. Many of the programs are heavily dependent on volunteers, which Stearns explains is made up of a lot of the retired community, who may be a more vulnerable demographic now than ever before. That, she said, weighs heavily in the decision to close the store for so long.

“Our concern was for the customers and the staff,” said Stearns. “We felt we needed to take those measures.”

The Beacon of Hope Board of Directors would like to thank every member of the community, staff and volunteers for giving the time and donations that enable the umbrella organization to continue to cover islanders.

Beacon of Hope Pine Island Attic Thrift Store is at 5090 Doug Taylor Circle, St. James City.