GREAT excitement is building up at Stepping Stone Hospice as the retail team gets set to open the hospice’s newest charity shop, on June 1, in the Alberton Mall (opposite Springbok Pharmacy).
They are calling on crafty and creative people within the community to help bring the shop to life with their talents and skills. “Right now we have a blank slate of wall-to-wall white with zero shelving,” says Stepping Stone Hospice’s retail manager, Brenda Peach, who’s spearheading the project. Brenda’s plan is to use mostly salvaged and reclaimed pieces to display the shop’s wares – anything from wooden pallets and crates, to repurposed cabinets, dressers and shelves. “We’re looking for people who can donate such items and/or put them up in the shop for us,” she explains.
Already signed up to the shop’s ‘decorating committee’ are members from the Alberton RECORD’s editorial team, including editor Carina van der Walt: “I believe that as a community paper we need to lead by example and take hands with the NPOs and NGOs in our community. The Stepping Stone Hospice Charity Shop is an exciting venture; it’s a hospice initiative to raise funds for themselves.”
Brenda van der Molen, owner of ‘You Inspire Me’ Arts & Crafts Boutique at Meyersdal Square, has also committed to the project to share her vast creative knowledge and abilities. “My motto has always been to inspire others,” she explains. “I’d like to help Stepping Stone create a space that’s colourful and expressive. Having a blank canvas to work with opens up all sorts of possibilities.”
The new charity shop will co-exist alongside Stepping Stone Hospice’s first charity shop, Ububele – albeit on a much larger scale than the two containers that Ububele currently trades out of in New Market Park. Since opening its doors in October 2016, this modest and compact shop has proved to be a steady source of income for Stepping Stone, which receives no government funding and relies a great deal on the generosity of the community.
“We need to get behind Stepping Stone, pull our weight and make this work,” says Carina. “If you have been beside the bed of a loved one in his or her last moments, you will know that a dignified passing is all you ask. I have seen the angels of Stepping Stone in action and they are a Godsend to our community. I challenge companies and individuals to come on board and make a donation, whether it be financial or in kind, so we can get this shop up and running.”
If you’d like to get involved with Stepping Stone Hospice’s Charity Shop project or have second-hand goods you’d like to donate as stock, call Brenda Peach on 010 516 0033 or email brenda@steppingstonehospice.co.za.
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