As we continue to serve our communities as a community ourselves, those of us in the SA Thrift Stores are making it our mission to engage those who are excluded and marginalized from society. Not just the financially poor, but those who have a poverty in their spirits, whether it be due to their health, their life circumstances, their influences or their own decisions.
Recently our Milton Store Manager, Judy Harrison, returned from a 6 week mission sojourn to her home country of Guyana. As she reported to us and shared pictures of her trip, our team was inspired and challenged by one of our “own”, giving willingly her time, her resources and her helping hands beyond the scope and reach of her life here, to, in this case, children ‘at risk’ in a country hundreds of miles away.
One picture in particular touched many – a man lying face down in a corner on the street on a piece of cardboard. It wasn’t a one-time thing, as Judy pointed out – it was his home.
Reflecting on that, we then switched channels to an exciting initiative at our Parkdale store – as wonderful a community as Parkdale is, there is great need there – we’ll shortly be adding a drop-in coffee “shop” for the locals to gather and share together within the confines of our thrift store.
What really resonates here is that these two communities, Guyana and Parkdale, miles and cultures apart share one thing in common: people in need. There is great poverty, both visible and hidden, in both places – the languages are different, but the need itself is universally understood.
A friend of mine who works in a downtown Toronto SA shelter recently showed me a beautiful piece of art given to him by one of his “guests” at the shelter. It was abstract and detailed and very beautiful. He told me to look closer and I realized the artwork was made from a piece of cardboard – he told me it was the very cardboard this artist had slept on in the street before getting back on his feet through the support and love and care of the Salvation Army community.
Cardboard seems to be very popular. It serves the same purpose in Guyana that it does in Parkdale and downtown Toronto……
A bed for some.
But there is hope – we see it every day – by working and shopping and donating to SA Thrift Stores, we all are, together, participating in changing the use of cardboard…..from a mattress to a canvas.