Without Volunteers, Thrift Shop Struggles to Survive

A hidden treasure tucked in the basement of St. Julia Church on Boston Post Road, the St. Julia Parish Thrift Shop closed in late June in preparation for the upcoming church renovation project set to begin this fall.

While the closure is due to the impending construction, the lack of volunteers is threatening the continuation of the community institution. Those involved anticipate the reopening of the shop next year, but are hoping for a necessary influx of young enthusiasm and dedication to make that happen.

"We would like to open it if possible, but that depends on having an adequate space and adequate volunteers and adequate volunteers is very important," St. Julia Parish Pastor Father George Evans said.

Over the last 45 years, the thrift shop has raised more than $500,000 selling reasonably priced donated items and has also served as a major charitable outreach to the needy in the region. Funds raised and goods donated benefited countless organizations inside and out of the Weston community.

"The thrift shop was a wonderful way of reaching out to those who needed used goods. It was a way of enlisting parishioners' good will and hard work," Father Evans said.

The renovations, which are set to begin before the end of the year, are being made to repair, preserve and update the church inside and out, Father Evans said.

 "I sincerely want this to be reopen," thrift shop coordinator and 14-year volunteer Pat Sennott said. "It was a very unique place, really."

The unwavering dedication by the volunteers at St. Julia's thrift shop was at the heart of the success of the charitable organization and is necessary for the continuation.

 "The main reason it has survived is because of the volunteers who are there. Why do we have some volunteers who have been there for 25 years? It becomes such a pleasure to be there. It is wonderful people watching," Sennott said. "You don't get any money. It is hard work, but it is a wonderful camaraderie with both the customers and other volunteers. It is a wonderful, happy environment."

But as the years passed, older volunteers have left their post while new contributors have been hard to find. There were only nine volunteers on staff when the shop closed in June, short of the necessary 12.

Located in the heart of Weston center, the St. Julia Parish Thrift Shop opened its doors in 1965 under the direction of Father Graf and has seen plenty of changes over the four and a half decades.

Originally staffed by the young mothers in the community that did not work, the thrift shop operated out of the rectory garage and was only open limited hours in the warm-weather months of April through September. It wasn't until the new parish center was built in 1996 and religious education classes moved into the new building that the thrift shop found its home in the church basement.

The space allowed the thrift shop to be open year-round with the exception of vacation periods during July, August and December.

Most of the women continued to donate their time to the church as their children moved on, but instead of being joined by a new batch of young mothers, they were joined by those who had retired from their jobs.

"It is a product of the changing lifestyles," Sennott said.

The St. Julia Parish thrift shop accumulated a distinctive collection of items over the years.

"You can find high-end labels, Newbury Street-quality clothing," Sennott said. "You will find some very high-quality, slightly-used clothing. You will also find very reasonable prices."

The volunteers at the thrift shop welcomed most any donations provided they were in decent condition. Anything they could not sell was donated to charitable organizations in the area.

"We want gently used closing, in-style and in-season. That's what we can sell. If it is not spot-free, rip-free and ready to sell, we don't put them out for sale in the thrift shop," Sennott said.

In addition to clothes, the shop accepted small household items, toys, sheets, towels and blankets as well as small collectables and costume jewelry.

The clientele was as diverse as the goods offered.

 "A small group of them are older people that come every week. There is also a couple of dealers and look at costume jewelry and collectables. Then we have a large contingency from Waltham – the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Waltham and St. Mary's Church in Waltham," Sennott said.

St. Julia's consistently donated goods to the St. Vincent de Paul Society as well as St. Francis House and Rosie's Place in Boston. During the holiday season, the shop donated nearly 300 wrapped gifts collected over the year to children of sister parishes and battered women's shelters in the area.           

"If somebody expresses a need, if someone will transport it, we will donate the clothing to them," Sennott said.

Before closing its doors, St. Julia's held major sales to clean out the inventory and then donated the remaining items to nearby charities.

"We gave at least 20 bags to St. Francis House alone. Everything remaining we gave to St. Vincent de Paul in Waltham. There was enough there that St. Vincent de Paul sent up an empty truck just to pick up from St. Julia's," Sennott said.

The thrift shop has stopped taking donations during its closure.