Want to help raise money for animals in your community? Are you a multi-tasker or like to help where it is needed most? We have been voted BEST Thrift Store for 6 years in a row. Now that is something to PURR about.
Help is needed at our busy Thrift Store. We recently re-opened our store from the shutdown amidst COVID-19. Before this happened, we were a very busy store. Now we are finding ourselves even busier. 100% of the revenue we generate stays right inside HSCO! We could not do what we do for our animals and our community without the generous support of our volunteers. Over 40% of our annual revenue is generated from our store.
Below are the open positions as of 8/27/20, in order of priority. Following the descriptions are the safety protocols for each position, that have been instituted amidst the crisis.
Thank you for your consideration.
To submit an application; please visit https://www.hsco.org/thrift-store-volunteering/
Clothing Sort/Process: Current need – Highest
This is a great position for volunteers who like to keep their hands busy, get first eyes on all the incoming clothing, and help us get clothes from the donation bins onto the sales floor. There is interaction with other staff & volunteers, but no public. Stations are set up to allow for social distancing, yet within ear's reach to chat with your volunteer neighbor. You can visibly see what an impact your volunteer shifts can make!
Sporting Goods: Current need – Highest
This is a great position for volunteers who know and enjoy sports! Or we can train you! We get all kinds of donations related to sporting goods, but need help processing them so we can get them on the sales floor to the public!
Description:
- Inspect donated items for durability, safety, interest, etc. Prepare it to go on sales floor.
- Depending on your interest, you can also maintain the display on sales floor.
- Must be able to stand/be on feet for long periods of time, some heavy lifting (large items and boxes).
- Schedule is in 2-hour increments and we can be flexible on days/times.
Cashier: Current need – High
This is a fun volunteer position with a lot of (safe) customer interaction! This position includes processing of sales, attention to detail and the desire for friendly and courteous customer service.
Description:
- Ringing up customer purchases
- Answering the phone
- Answering questions from customers
- Money handling and customer service experience is a plus but is not required. We are willing to train any volunteer that is interested, and if it is not working out we are happy to train in another area.
- Good candidates for this position will have strong attention to detail, ability to multitask, and stay calm under pressure.
- Schedule will be in 2 hour increments and it is very important to be on time and stay for the entire scheduled shift.
Donation Door Attendant: Current need – High
This is a great position for volunteers who enjoy interacting with many different people and seeing the donations we receive. This position does include customer interaction.
Description:
- Take donations from donors at our donation door. Some donations will be refused for varying reasons, must be able to communicate with the donor why we cannot accept some items.
- Sort donations into appropriate bins following our procedures.
- Must be able to stand/be on feet for long periods of time, some heavy lifting (large bags of clothes and boxes).
- Schedule is in 2-hour increments and it is very important to show up on time and stay for the entire scheduled shift.
Flying Squad: Current need – Medium/High
This is what we call our general volunteers who may not be assigned to a specific task. They will be trained in many areas and may end up specializing in something more specific.
Description:
- This may include pricing, stocking, sorting, putting items together, merchandising, fixing things, testing items, etc.
- Imagine: If something comes through the door, it needs processing of some sort before it goes on to the sales floor
- We can train in any area if a volunteer is interested in a particular department! Departments include:
- Clothing
- Outdoor/sports
- Books
- Housewares
- Holiday
- Electronics
- & More
Schedule can vary and be flexible.
Safety Protocols in place during COVID-19
All staff, volunteers and customers are required to wear a mask, maintain a 6’ social distance between other people. Staff and volunteers are provided with detailed protocol to monitor their own health, wash hands frequently and follow proper respiratory hygiene.
Donation Door
- Volunteers wearing masks & gloves, maintaining 6’ social distance
- Customer unloads items from vehicle and places them on a table
- Customer steps back from table while store associate looks at donations
- All items must be clean and free from dirt & dust
- Clothing must be clean and washed
- Donation receipts will be available without customer contact. Customer take a donation receipt, keeps the yellow copy and leaves the white copy
- All large or furniture donations will be scheduled through ReSupply, a third party partner
- We are only taking donations M, W, F to allow for proper sanitization. All non-clothing items will be sprayed with disinfectant and sit for 24 hours before processing. All clothing will be washed prior to putting it on to the sales floor.
Cashier
- Plexiglass shield installed at all registers. Marks on the floor instruct customer to stand properly behind plexiglass
- No-contact credit card procedures in place. Customer will insert credit card into the reader, but the store associate will push any necessary buttons. If if is necessary for the customer to touch the reader for any reason, it will be sanitized before the next transaction.
- Carts and baskets sanitized between customer usage
- Customer required to carry out their own purchase, unless it is a person with a disability, in which case a staff member will assist.
Phone Receptionist
- Volunteers will not have direct contact with customers, but will be following basic safety protocol/
Flying Squad
- Volunteers will be assigned to departments based on their interest and comfort level. Some positions may include interaction with customers, in which case each person will be wearing a mask and maintaining social distance.
To submit an application; please visit https://www.hsco.org/volunteer/
Thank you for considering these volunteer opportunities. Please specify which one you are interested in, in your response.
Stay safe out there, and we give you a big Hi-Paw, a Woof and a Purr!
