By KATH GANNAWAY
IT’S quite unusual for an op shop to have 50 years of history behind it as the Yarra Junction Community Opportunity Shop does.
It’s even more unusual that that shop has been operating out of the same building, right in the centre of town, all that time, and that many of the volunteers of the last 30 years are following in well-established family footsteps.
The OpP Shop team of volunteers got together at Cunningham’s Hotel on Monday, 11 April, to celebrate the 50th birthday and reminisce about the people and events that have been part of the story – so far.
The late Rene Calquohoun was the first person to run the shop which was started by local women to raise funds for the Yarra Junction Bush Nursing Hospital.
Current treasurer, Noella Watson’s mother, Jessie McLeish, was one of the early workers, along with Lois ‘Loy’ Shalders, Mavis Mortimer and many others over the years.
The shop is one of the great success stories of Yarra Junction returning hundreds of thousands of dollars back into community projects from Reefton to Woori Yallock and out as far as Powelltown and Yellingbo.
The shop’s gallery of ‘Thank You’ certificates reflects the broad reach of their hard work and generosity and how their work is appreciated in their communities.
President, Margaret Coles has been at the helm for about 10 years. She said the success of the shop is due to many factors including the dedicated volunteers is has had over the years and the support of the broader community through donations, and as customers.
“I have been there for 10 years and have seen it grow in that time,” she said.
“We have more and more customers coming in, the shop looks nice and is bigger now than it was for many years, and we are getting more and more requests for support, which we also see as an indication of our success.”
Donations of clean, saleable goods are always welcomes, as are offers to join the volunteer team.
Phone Margaret on 0418 383 306 or Noella on 5967 2380.
