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Schools open August 10 See page 3 The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Savannah Vol. 100 No. 15 Thursday, July 23, 2020 Put Faith in Your Opinions southerncross-sav.org A customer takes a look around the books section of the store. There are sub-sections for everything from children’s books to cooking to history. Catholic Social Services Thrift Store expands mission to help provide affordable shopping options in Augusta BY DONNELL SUGGS dsuggs@diosav.org AUGUSTA, GA.- The Catholic Social Services (CSS) thrift store began serving customers in 1990, selling donated goods and cloth ing to people of all walks of life. Proceeds from the sales have helped support Catholic Social Services of Augusta, which has its headquarters downtown. The tradition that began as a month ly yard sale continues three decades later as the new store, moved from a smaller space nearby, opened Monday, July 6. Located at 3229 Wrightsboro Road, the new 17,000-plus square foot location has already been a popular shopping destina tion for Catholics and non-Cath- olics alike. Rows and rows of clothing hung from moveable racks stationed throughout the sales floor. Signs notified cus tomers of $2.75 shirts and $1.50 ties. Books, DVDs, furniture, electronics and toys, which each have separate sections, are avail able for perusal. Everything from a used treadmill (retailing at $75.00) to oil paintings and bicy cles can be purchased. The store has something for everyone, and that’s exactly how Philomena Mooney, the store’s manager, likes it. Mooney describes the thrift store system as “the best form of recycling.” People donate items to CSS and then the CSS employees, 15 in total (seven full-time from the previous store and eight new part-time hires), and volunteers fix what needs fixing before the donations hit the floor. Minutes before the store opened Monday, July 13, Mooney had been gluing a chair together. “We have lots of volunteers, but could always use some more,” said Mooney, who attends St. Mary on the Hill Church, Augusta. Volunteer applications will be available online later this month. On a Monday morning earlier this month the store was busy with a dozen shoppers mingling about. The boutique, a small section of the store that houses more rare and not-so-every- day donations was also busy with customers. Managed by Donna Weeks Borroughs, the boutique consultant, this sec tion is where the store’s more exclusive books, statues, wood work, art, clothing and jewelry can be found. An autographed copy of Ralph McGill’s classic non-fiction book “The South and the Southerner’ was available for purchase, as was a 19th century German-made brass crucifix. A porcelain statuette of Saint Francis, wedding dresses and official Masters golf tournament polos were also on display. A sign that said, “No carts in the boutique” made it known that this portion of the store was extra special. “Those are vintage things or collectibles, brand new clothes. Things that are not gen erally viewed as a necessity.” The old store didn’t have a boutique. The new one does and Burroughs, who also doubles as the section designer, enjoys providing the service to custom ers. “Our new digs are incred ible,” she said before helping a customer at the jewelry counter. “We are out to give customers a wonderful shopping experience. Our mission is to give back to our customers like people have given to us.” Located next door to an apartment complex, car wash and Chinese buffet, if nothing else, the CSS thrift store gives See THRIFT STORE page 8