'A couple of boxes and make a difference in people's lives': Salvation Army asks for donations

The Salvation Army is asking for donations to keep its shelves stocked in Manitoba thrift stores. 

While sales continue to go up, Ted Troughton, Managing Director of The Salvation Army Thrift Store National Recycling Operations, says, "There's a lot of challenging factors out there with the economy, with the cost of goods and people are truly trying to find a way to make their hard-earned dollars stretch further."

Troughton knows that the Salvation Army has built trust with residents that they will get a good value for the dollar. "There's lots of great products and I can really save a lot of money and find some, you know, some quite cool fines." 

The Salvation Army relies heavily on generous donations. "What they really want to do is get in, get that value and everything that's driven through our stores is through donations. That's to all the products donated and we want to make sure that we can keep the shelves full for everybody," says Troughton. 

Each day, donations get added to the shelves and continue to be put out for purchase. "Through the day, we get donations in and we're trying to fill the shelves and the racks as much as we can throughout the day, so it's always changing," says Troughton. "It's not your regular retail store where it's the same stuff today as it is tomorrow. All different all the time."

Right now, Troughton says they are in need of a few specific items. "Small appliances, your kitchen pots and pans, and home decor items. People are trying to find a way when everything's more expensive, so when they go into other retail channels, things are more expensive."

He also says they won't turn clothes, shoes, pants, and belts away, especially male clothing. 

To drop off donations, Troughton says it's an easy process. "All our stores will take donations all week long. Just come on down and bring down your gently used items. A couple of bags, a couple of boxes and make a difference in people's lives."

After donating, Troughton says a 20% off coupon is given to say thank you. "You can shop pretty much everything tax-free but the funds we generate are for the services of the Salvation Army and there are a lot of people in desperate need and definitely in Manitoba too. That's what the Salvation Army does. They're there to provide those social services for food banks, shelters, modern slavery, and human trafficking prevention that's really what you're doing, so it's a win-win for everybody."