Volunteers wanted in Woodlawn at St. Stephen's Thrift Shop

St. Stephen’s Thrift Shop’s mission is providing the Woodlawn Bronx community and surrounding neighborhoods with quality, affordable shopping options, reducing waste through thoughtful reuse, and supporting the mission and works of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. The Shop has been a resource in the neighborhood since the 1990s, and operates primarily with volunteer help.

We welcome our Volunteers in the front and back of house during our business hours (currently Wednesdays and Saturdays with more operating days coming soon) and have hours when the Shop is closed for organizing, cleaning, research, and processing donations under the direction of the Thrift Shop Volunteer Coordinators and/or Lead Volunteers. We try to create a welcoming, low-stress environment where volunteers enjoy autonomy and meaningful work and build connections to the community.

We have Volunteers of all ages helping out according to the time they have available for us, and the talents they want to share. Some come every Saturday at noon on the dot like clockwork, and some just have to roll with what life throws at their schedule that week. Some just love helping people at the register wrap up two books on caligraphy with a small ream of special paper, and a beautiful piece of lusterware that will make a great gift for their friend's housewarming party, and to celebrate your find of a $4 pair of jeans with the tags still on them. Some people want to come in for their shift and find a workroom of unopened donation boxes and large bags of clothing and to sort through them to put the chaos in order. Some don't want to spend the day in conversation, but are happy to hang new artwork and sweep the porch and sidewalk, or go find decorations for the next holiday in the attic. Many of our Volunteers are happy to do a combination of things, as long as they are not sitting at a desk!