How do you $pend Your Free Time?

How do you $pend your free time? For approximately the last 20 years the Thrift Store in Panguitch has provided the opportunity for volunteers who would like to support the Garfield Memorial Hospital in its endeavor to provide quality health care for the residents of Garfield and Piute counties. The Thrift Store, along with the Foundation Dinner and the Golf Tournament, has helped to supply much needed equipment for the hospital.

Each year the Hospital Foundation and Thrift Store Manager set a goal to provide something specific that the hospital is in need of. They have paid for such items as a fetal baby monitor, baby bassinets, Bilirubin Lights for babies with Jaundice and equipment for the Bryce Valley Clinic, along with many other items which are too numerous to list.

This next year we are working to try to equip the two new emergency rooms that the hospital will be building. This is a challenging goal, but with the aid of the community we feel it is a goal that can be reached.

Dozens of volunteers have spent their free time sorting the donations and preparing them for sale. The local communities have been very generous with the donations that they supply for the Thrift Store.

Each day we sort, clean and stock the store with many wonderful items, providing merchandise to be sold to the shoppers. We receive compliments from tourists who come to the store and feel great about finding bargains on all types of items. They are impressed that the store is run by volunteers and that all of the money goes to support the hospital.

The community has been outstanding at supplying everything that can be imagined for the Thrift Store to make a profit. Our only need at this time is for more volunteers to help at the store. At the present time we have had to cut back our time that we are open for lack of volunteers to run the store. We are currently only open from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We have twelve diligent volunteers and could use double that number of people to be able to keep the store open until 5:00 p.m. each day.

So, how do you $pend your time? Maybe you could turn it into dollars for the hospital. Perhaps you could spare a few hours a week helping to support Garfield Memorial Hospital. If you would like to volunteer, contact the Thrift Store Manager, Beverly Lowe at 435-690-1068 and choose a time that would be convenient for you to come in one day a week and serve. Join us in helping to provide the equipment that can save lives in our area.

– by Elaine Baldwin

Feature image caption: During Panguitch’s scarecrow contest, the thrift store put together some creative thrift-store scarecrows, complete with skis. Courtesy Hailee Eyre.