Parkes' St Vincent de Paul store is a bustling business with a mission to help others, and a team of volunteers makes it all possible.
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National Volunteer Week was time to acknowledge their work, with a celebratory luncheon for the team and lifetime service recognition for three locals who have been donating their time for more than 30 years each.
Mother and daughter Frances Charlton and Christine Cox were honoured for 35 years service each, along with Betty Ackroyd who unfortunately was not in attendance.
These ladies have an incredible role to play in our local Vinnies store, which turns over about 40,000 items every month to fund the charity's crucial services.
Regional manager Tanya Godden says some 30 active volunteers run our local Vinnies, doing everything from sorting and pricing donations to customer service and stocking the shop.
Logistics is also key with Vinnies determined not to let anything go to landfill: what cannot be sold locally goes to other regions and is resorted before any final items are sent overseas to be recycled into new products.
Frances and Christine are there a couple of days a week at least, often more.
They're there to open the doors and set up ready for that day's team to come in.
Frances was first to volunteer those decades ago and quickly recruited her daughter, who recalls her son was still in the pram when she started.
"We started as Thursday ladies years ago and we're still Thursday ladies," Christine said.
Frances now serves as a day coordinator and Christine store manager - and they do love it.
"The company, meeting different people, it's amazing the people you meet from different towns," Frances said.
On the morning of the luncheon, Frances had been able to connect someone who came into the store to the practical assistance they needed.
And it's that knowledge they're making a difference that drives them.
"All the hard work they do here in the shop raises the money which then is handed to our assistance side," Tanya said.
"Every bit of hard work they put in goes to help somebody in our communities."
"It's very satisfying to help somebody - even the smallest things make a difference," Christine said.
Although they're volunteers, they're running a business - for the benefit of the charity of course - and they do have to uphold the standards you expect of an retail experience.
An amazing array of donations come to the store, Christine describing it as like the emporiums of yesteryear.
Vinnies Parkes has always been busy but Christine believes more people are coming through the doors since COVID-19 and the floods of late 2022.
They're there to help.
She thanked her husband Neil for his support of her volunteering efforts through busy family years, and said the team at Vinnies is a wonderful one.
"We've got a good team of people and you couldn't do it without the people you've got working with you," Christine said.
They'd encourage anyone interested to enquire about volunteering: Vinnies can also offer hours to people looking to fulfil Centrelink commitments.
