Work a Little or a Lot, All Volunteers Welcome at St. Francis Gift & Thrift and Catholic Social Services
Volunteers are everywhere in a community. Auburn itself has a volunteer fire department, and volunteers that drive meals from the Senior Center to community members who can’t get there themselves. Along with these various organizations is Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska, a nonprofit which operates St. Francis Gift & Thrift located at 1020 Central Avenue and 1014 Central Avenue, respectively. CSS and SFGT have provided Hope in the Good Life via financial assistance, a client choice food market, a well maintained thrift store to shop for low cost household items, as well as friendship and compassion for locals for 20 years. As stated by St. Francis Gift & Thrift Store Manager Lynn Halama, “none of it would be possible without our volunteers and donors.”
Since opening its doors in February of 2004, SFGT has accepted donations from generous community members. Donations are cleaned, sorted, priced, displayed and sold, mostly through the work of volunteers. Funds from the resold items are used to assist clients and families in need throughout the community with financial assistance for rent, utilities, medical bills, etc, and to provide food, holiday meals, diapers, and personal care items. Though CSS is named as such, Julie Perry Assistant Manager + Marketing, made it clear that CSS will do their best to help anyone in need and helping others is what she truly loves about her job. The same goes for the volunteers that they bring into their teams.
