Magic of Christmas Alive at Redeemed Goods
By: Brandy Ford
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| Stacy Otting checks out a few Christmas ornaments available at Redeemed Goods. The store has been transformed into a location that can easily rival Santa’s workshop at the North Pole. |
Walking through the doors of Redeemed Goods is like walking
directly into Santa’s workshop at the North Pole. The spirit of Christmas is
alive through bright displays and holiday themed decorations, and with the
smiling volunteers ready to help you find what you are looking for.
“We have pretty much anything that you can get at a Walmart
or a department store,” says Melissa Kirkpatrick, Open Arms Mission CEO.
Redeemed Goods, located at 298 Crowland Avenue in Welland,
is an extension of Open Arms Mission. It opened a little over ten years ago with
a concept of not only providing affordable, and often free, items for people in
need, but also to empower those people and teach them transferable skills.
“(We opened) with the thought of wanting to work with the
whole person. We wanted to train basic skills that could actually land people
jobs in the retail industry,” says Open Arms Mission CEO, Melissa Kirkpatrick.
An anonymous donor gifted the mission with enough money to
buy a small bakery, which, after a few renovations, became Redeemed Goods. Donations of reusable items “continued to just
flow in from the community” and the store became a “social enterprise”.
“Many (volunteers) were getting training that they could put
on a resume,” says Kirkpatrick. “The whole idea was to use this store as a
training ground for learning basic cash skills and inventory skills, customer
service, and even (something as) basic as showing up for work.”
Kirkpatrick says the support people are given helps them
develop a sense of worth they may not have had before.
“We’re patient and loving, and coming from a faith
background, we want to show God’s love and patiently work with each individual
person when they come to us,” she says. “We try to raise them up to a person
that has the confidence, first of all, but also the skills to be able to apply
for a job, interview well and get a job. Even if it’s part time we want people
to be working because we know as humans we need to have that sense of worth of
wanting to contribute back.”
Redeemed Goods started with selling mostly clothing, but
quickly expanded. So many donations came in that they were able to branch out
and open a warehouse at 933 Forks Road West, where they sell donated items such
as furniture, appliances and electronics.
And, while they appreciate all items donated, Kirkpatrick
stresses that each item is looked over carefully before being put in the store.
“We’re only selling or giving whatever is given to us that’s
of good value. We don’t take unclean items. We try to have things in our store
that are actually redeemable in the sense that they still have good years left
of life.”
Redeemed Goods also hosts a shopping day for children to
pick out gifts for their loved ones. The idea is to allow children to choose
gifts and feel confidence and pride in being able to give to the ones they love
the most. The shopping day is completely by donation.
“Kids have a chance to come in with any amount of money (or)
allowance; big or small and shop for Christmas gifts for loved ones from a
special selection of gifts set aside. If they only have a couple dollars or
twenty dollars, they get to pick out gifts,” says Otting.
Children are able to shop in a special area away from the
main part of the store and gift bags are even provided. The event will take
place this year on December 21 and 22 between 10-5.
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