My Seton Store Story

This week, the Seton Store did not receive many donations, so we were able to tidy up the sorting room and clean the store. Maggie and I did odd jobs during our shifts this week, including sorting, folding, and bundling linens, wiping down all of the shelves in the store, making countless trash and recycling runs, emptying the dehumidifiers, and making sure that all of the clothes were organized on the racks correctly. I am thankful that it was a pretty laid-back week because we finally had time to get the sorting room and store floor in good order.  Racks of clothing that we sorted into the correct sizing. On Wednesday, I had to call out sick due to a migraine. I received very sweet emails from the Director of Operations and the Volunteer Coordinator wishing me a speedy recovery. When I returned today, the other volunteers were very happy to see me and asked me how I was feeling. I am very blessed to be volunteering in such a supportive environment.  Afghan throw blankets t...

Many of the regular staff members were out this week, so Maggie and I had to fill in the gaps and work at different stations. Of the five stations (clothing, jewelry, linens, accessories, and household), a total of three of them were unmanned and would be for multiple days. I have become very accustomed to working with clothes, so it was certainly interesting to branch out.  A stand of necklaces that Maggie and I tagged and priced. We spent most of our time this week working at the jewelry station, tagging, pricing, and hanging various pieces of jewelry. A couple of pieces needed small repairs, so we fixed what we could using some tools and parts from the broken jewelry bin. As I looked through the broken jewelry bin, I decided to make some completely new pieces of jewelry using parts from various other pieces. I love crafting and was given complete creative control by the staff to make any pieces of jewelry I wanted. I really enjoyed making things that were useful out of parts tha...

This week, we started rolling out a ton of Christmas decorations. The store already had a small Christmas section, but there were so many donations of Christmas stuff that we started to bleed into the Halloween section! Maggie and I found a part of the store that was empty and set up an extension of the existing Christmas section to avoid further overcrowding. The Christmas corner that we set up. When our Christmas corner was all set up, we decorated a Christmas tree together to place at the front of the store. We were even given the authority to price the ornaments as we placed them on the tree. Funnily enough, I told Maggie earlier that day that I hoped we’d never have to price anything ourselves because I was worried that I would do it wrong! The Christmas tree that we decorated. I really enjoyed setting up the merchandise displays and working with Maggie to find the perfect spot for each item. I absolutely love decorating, so I appreciate that they trust me enough to give me free r...

During our volunteer orientation, we learned about all of the services that the Seton Center offers, including affordable housing programs, medical and dental clinics, and GED and Getting Ahead (GA) classes. They stressed that service at the Seton Center is about empowering individuals to become successful and self-sufficient, rather than enabling people to rely on charitable giving. It is our responsibility as volunteers to act as partners to autonomous individuals in the community, rather than superiors or saviors. I also appreciate that they value feedback from the community they serve and specifically tailor their services to fit the needs of Northern Frederick County. When a service is no longer necessary or desired within the community, it is replaced by a service that is in demand. The station I typically work at in the sorting room.  Once the orientation was finished, Maggie and I got straight to work in the sorting room. The store had received many donations that day, so t...