thrift shop Archives

Beyond the Sale: How TRU Thrift Shop’s Giving Room Creates Community Impact

November 3, 2025 by TRU Community Care

When you donate to TRU Thrift Shop, your generosity extends far beyond what you might see on our sales floor. While many donated items find new homes through our store, what happens to the items that don’t sell tells an even more powerful story of community care and environmental stewardship.

The Giving Room: Where Nothing Goes to Waste

At the heart of our sustainability mission is TRU Thrift’s “Giving Room” – a dedicated space where volunteers work tirelessly to give as many donations as possible a meaningful second life. What many shoppers might not realize is just how far this commitment extends, with an extensive network of over 30 community partnerships.

In the Giving Room, volunteers carefully sort items that cannot be sold in-store but still have tremendous value for community organizations. This thoughtful approach means that your donations continue giving long after they leave our shelves.

Hannah, former TRU Thrift staff member who founded the Giving Room in 2015, recently stopped by to visit.

Stories of Second Lives

Every item tells a story of transformation and purpose:

Comfort for Life’s Transitions: Sheets that can’t be sold find meaningful new purposes – some go to The Natural Funeral to support their green burial services, while others become backings for quilts at Faith Community Church, providing warmth to people experiencing homelessness.

Supporting Families: Baby clothes that have outgrown our sales floor bring joy to new families through Gabriel House, while diapers and infant care items support parents through Sister Carmen Community Center.

Meeting Basic Needs: Shoes make their way to Haven Ridge (formerly Feet Forward) and other organizations supporting individuals experiencing homelessness. Towels, blankets, and toiletries find their way to All Roads (formerly Boulder Shelter for the Homeless), providing dignity and comfort to those in transition.

Building New Homes: When individuals transition from homelessness into their first apartments, they often arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Through partnerships with Boulder Housing Partners and Emergency Family Assistance, dishes, household items, and basic necessities from our Giving Room help transform empty spaces into homes.

Nurturing Growth: Children’s books bring literacy and joy through multiple organizations, while art supplies support creative expression at Mental Health Partners and through TGTHR (formerly Attention Homes) for at-risk youth.

Paul, TRU Thrift Shop shopper, picking up textiles for a Kiwanis project to make dog toys for the Humane Society in partnership with CU students.

A Web of Care

Our network includes specialized partnerships that address unique community needs:

Pet Care: The Boulder Valley Humane Society receives pet food, toys, and bedding.
Health & Mobility: Medical equipment like wheelchairs and walkers go to organizations like Bridge House and Good Health Will.
Environmental Responsibility: Through CHaRM, glass and ceramics are properly recycled, while Eco-Cycle receives plain t-shirts for their programs.
Safety: A Precious Child receives car seats for proper disposal and recycling.

The Volunteers Who Make It Happen

This remarkable system works because of dedicated volunteers like Paula, Donna, Cheryl, Bob, and many others who coordinate pickups, deliveries, and relationships with our partner organizations. They understand that the woman donating her mother’s dishes isn’t just clearing out a cabinet – she’s potentially helping furnish someone’s first apartment after homelessness.

Your Donation’s Ripple Effect

When you donate to TRU Thrift Shop, you’re not just supporting hospice care – though proceeds certainly do fund TRU Hospice’s compassionate end-of-life services. You’re also:

Reducing waste by keeping usable items out of landfills
Supporting over 30 local nonprofits with needed supplies
Helping individuals transition from homelessness to housing
Supporting families in crisis
Providing resources for at-risk youth
Contributing to pet welfare and community health initiatives

Paula, TRU Thrift Shop volunteer who leads Giving Room initiatives — Paula, current TRU Thrift Shop volunteer, who passionately spearheads all Giving Room initiatives.

The Bigger Picture

The Giving Room represents something bigger than efficient donation processing – it’s a testament to what’s possible when organizations work together with intention and care. Every partnership was thoughtfully developed based on specific community needs and each organization’s mission.

This network ensures that your generosity has the maximum possible impact. A single bag of donations might contribute to hospice care through store sales, help a family in crisis through the Giving Room partnerships, and support environmental sustainability through proper recycling – all while strengthening the fabric of our Boulder County community.

Join Our Mission

The next time you visit TRU Thrift Shop at 5565 Arapahoe Avenue in Boulder, know that you’re part of something much larger than a typical thrift store transaction. Whether you’re shopping, donating, or volunteering, you’re supporting a comprehensive approach to community care that honors both people and planet.

Your donated sweater might warm someone at Haven Ridge. Your extra dishes might help furnish a formerly homeless individual’s first apartment. Your children’s outgrown books might spark joy for a child at Sister Carmen Community Center.

This is the true magic of the Giving Room – where generosity goes further, waste is reduced, and community needs are met through the simple act of giving thoughtfully and receiving gratefully.

TRU Thrift Shop is located at 5565 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, CO 80303. For more information about donations or volunteer opportunities, call 303.604.5353. To learn more about our Giving Room partnerships or to suggest additional community organizations that could benefit, contact Paula at gmputter@gmail.com.

Meet One of Our Younger Volunteers at TRU Thrift

September 19, 2023 by TRU Community Care

Meet Jady! Just graduated from Fairview High School last spring, she’s got her whole life ahead of her. Jady is entering the University of Washington to study Environmental Science. Jady is also one of our volunteers at TRU Thrift.

Covid wasn’t an easy time for most, and many everyday activities were suddenly extinct, including retail shopping. Many people were left with not much to do and in search of new hobbies to keep busy. For Jady, that hobby became volunteering at her local thrift shop. Jady and her mother enjoyed thrifting and were frequent shoppers at TRU Thrift. One day they saw a sign advertising ‘help wanted’ and decided to give their spare time to a good cause.

“Starting as a volunteer during Covid was hard and kind of weird,” Jady claims, but she found it to be rewarding and worthwhile. Through the three years that Jady volunteered with TRU Thrift, she found friendships, helpful and kind people, and some cool thrift shop discoveries.

If you visited TRU Thrift in the past few years, you would likely find Jady up front and center on a cash register – she is a people person and loves interacting with customers. If not up front, she’s in the back sorting clothes and chatting up the other volunteers in the clothing department.

Very few of our volunteers are in the younger age group, and even fewer are school-aged, which makes Jady just that much more special. When asked about what she would like to share specifically with others her age about volunteering, she highlighted a few positives, “It’s a way to have great learning experiences,” Jady says, “and colleges and employers love it.” Jady says it is also a significant way to feel involved with your community while making a difference.

Over the past three years here at TRU Thrift, Jady contributed close to 200 volunteer hours! One key life lesson she took away from her volunteer time is the value of having patience and understanding for others. She also learned how to carry extra responsibility, as well as the importance of volunteering and serving others.

Now that Jady is off to college, she won’t be around the store as much, but her lasting impact will resonate for years to come. Jady will be coming home next summer, so you might get a chance to stop in and say hi to her next June!

Submitted by Kelsey B., Thrift Shop Intern

TRU Volunteers Serve

September 26, 2019 by TRU Community Care

This week, TRU Thrift Shop celebrated Morgana Young for her nearly 14 years of volunteer work. TRU Thrift Shop volunteers, employees, friends, and family all gathered at the shop’s cafe to say farewell and show appreciation for Morgana’s years of service to TRU Community Care.

Volunteers are an essential piece of the mission, vision, and values of TRU Community Care. Last year alone, TRU volunteers accounted for over 30,000 hours of work, equating to over $900,000 in value. We could not serve the greater community without the dedicated service of our volunteers. Ultimately, they provide an immeasurable value that goes beyond volunteer hours and represents the dynamic support we are able to provide in TRU Hospice, TRU Palliative Care, TRU PACE, and TRU Grief Services.

Reta Morrisette, the Volunteer Coordinator for TRU Community Care, works with volunteers supporting our Grief Services and those coping with illness and loss. She is amazed by the devoted care and service of these volunteers on a daily basis. In Reta’s words, “It is a true honor and privilege to serve the bereaved in our community. Our volunteers are very compassionate and skilled in bringing a sacred place to our community, offering their time and hearts to serve the bereaved who are coping with illness and loss.”

TRU volunteers are skilled in practice and devoted to the heart and values of our community. Without them, we would not be able to provide the depth of care and compassion that supports our mission and makes TRU not just a service provider, but also a supportive community. Volunteers are at the heart of why we are TRU Community Care.

We are always searching for new volunteers to help us support our mission as they serve our patients and families with the best emotional, spiritual, and practical support possible; lend valuable administrative assistance to the organization; and play a key role at TRU Thrift Shop. Our volunteers are all admiringly devoted and often choose to remain “behind the scenes,” serving in humility. They find joy and contentment in making a tangible difference in people’s lives, giving back to our community, and continuing to learn new skills while meeting new and interesting people.

We cannot thank all of our volunteers enough! We look forward to serving you as you help serve the mission, vision, and core values of TRU Community Care.

If you are interested in becoming a TRU volunteer, please visit: https://www.trucare.org/careers-volunteers/volunteer-overview/