YMCA Thrift Shop

Jamie Bell

This used to be THE place to find books. It's book section was legendary. Now, the employees either personally buy and flip the higher value books or they are not even put on the shelves. They are sold on Amazon instead. Really disappointing.

Sungoddess

A lot of everything for everybody!! Wasn't hard on my pocket book! Update 3/5/22; place is organized and prices are cheap! I'm a repeat customer.

Sandra Kurtsen

I found some nice stuff at this thrift shop but i feel the employees don’t want to be there. They act like you’re an inconvenience & they make smart comments about customers. I might not return just due to their total lack of respect for their customers.

rose blue

I was born and raised in Blacksburg and this used to be one of my favorite thrift stores, but I have stopped going due to the outrageously high prices and terrible organization. It's been especially bad in the past couple of months for some …Thank you very much for sharing your perspective on the situation in our Thrift Shop. As a non-profit Thrift Shop, we strive to strike a balance between generating revenue to fuel our community outreach programs while also being good stewards to our supporters who entrust us with their belongings. We try to be mindful about the prices assigned to the items donated to us by the community; as you might imagine, it is not an exact science. Our process generally includes the following: Evaluating the condition of the item Investigating the price of a new version of the item Determining if it has any special characteristics, such as: All of the funds raised through the Thrift Shop help support our outreach programs here in this community. These programs are incredibly important to our neighbors, especially during COVID. For instance, since April 2020 alone, we have: Served more than 35,000 meals to youth in the community; these children are facing severe food insecurity, even with the meals we have been able to provide. Conducted engagement activities for elders and internationals in our region who are experiencing greater social isolation than in previous years; the conversations and social engagement help them feel some semblance of normalcy and connectivity in a strained world. Provided space for Gilbert Linkous Elementary to host its before/after school care program free of rent, so as to reduce the cost passed on to families in desperate need of safe care for their children as they struggle to work to receive an income. Created an online homework help and tutoring program for Montgomery County Public School students to access and receive assistance with their studies; this is done in a closed and monitored virtual setting to ensure the children are safe and give parents peace-of-mind. All of these programs, and many more like them not listed here, require substantial financial assistance to help facilitate and implement. Fortunately, community members believe in the outreach mission of the Y and donate items to us so that the programs can flourish. We have a responsibility to our supporters to maximize the value of their donations so that we can help the community. Since April 2020 we have been running with few staff due to COVID-19. These hard working employees have been doing their very best to keep up with the tremendous amount of donations coming in, working long hours to process and move the items out onto the salesfloor. We are currently hiring for multiple positions in the Thrift Shop and invite you to share our employment opportunities with anyone you know who may be interested: https://vtymca.org/employment_opportunities/