Vinnie’s Shop Castlemaine is looking for volunteers to join their wonderful team, sorting and selling a range of goods to help provide crucial material and financial support to the people in our community who need it most.
According to the Vinnies Shop Castlemaine manager Kim Perry the store lost a number of volunteers during the height of the pandemic, leaving them shorthanded.
“It doesn’t take over your life, people work at their own pace and to their capacity,” Kim said.
“Some people work a few hours a week and others work every day. We work around people’s lives, holidays, and time with grandkids. Volunteers provide a real support network for each other with lots of banter. I call it my Vinnies family.”
According to Kim people volunteer for many different reasons including giving back to the community, for social interaction, or to bring structure and meaning into people’s lives.
The need for assistance from the Vinnies Support Centre in Castlemaine has increased significantly in recent years with the rising cost of living and the shop proceeds from the shop provide essential funding to assist with bills, food, rent, and pet care.
“We get a lot of donations that all need to be processed,” Kim said. “But if we don’t have enough volunteers then we are forced to close down donations.”
At present the op shop has 22 volunteers working various shifts, but they require at least another 10 volunteers to process donations and work front-of-house, to help take the pressure off. They also require volunteers trained to ‘test and tag’ electrical items as part of the ‘Green Sparks’ program which launched last year and is designed to save electrical items from landfill.
“We’d love to have anyone over the age of 15 come and volunteer. It can be a great way for school kids to learn job skills in a retail setting,” Kim said.
“There’s great support with training resources and a buddy system to assist with learning,” Kim told the Mail.
“My volunteers are a good tribe. I’m really blessed.”
Vinnies Castlemaine is open seven days a week 10am to 4pm and is located at 244 Barker Street.
For those interested in volunteering at Vinnies Castlemaine, drop into the shop for a chat during business hours and/or submit your interest via Vinnie’s volunteer website at vinniesvic.carrd.co/.