Halloween? Christmas? Yes. Fort Mill shop opens early to help York County animals
The Humane Society of York County and the PAWSibilities Thrift Shop has opened the 11th annual Christmas shop.
Located at The BIG Fireworks facility, 2203 Deerfield Dr. in Fort Mill, the shop generates funds each year to provide safe housing, veterinary care, adoptions for homeless pets and other humane society efforts.
This year the shop, which opened Thursday, is starting early to include a Halloween and autumn boutique through Oct. 31. The Christmas shop will continue until Dec. 27.
“We’re going to feature a lot of Halloween items, but it’ll still be full of Christmas,” said “chief elf” with the humane society Elaine Siegel. “It’s worth a trip. And bring money.”
“It’s a thrift shop Christmas shop,” Siegel said. “But we have a lot of new stuff. We have a lot of stuff that people donate.”
Organizers aim to raise about $90,000. The Christmas shop each year captures a considerable amount of funding for the humane society, as does PAWSibilities. That thrift shop was closed for about a month due to COVID-19, and a June auction was postponed to November.
“We’re opening a month early,” Siegel said. “We’re trying to recoup for all the time we had to be closed due to COVID.”
The shop is closed Mondays. It’s open noon-4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and again noon-4 p.m. Sunday. Masks are required. The shop also will take donations to support animal efforts.
There’s more than 3,000 square feet of shopping area.
The Fort Mill-based humane society is a nonprofit staffed primarily by volunteers. It’s a no-kill rescue organization with a dozen workers.
“It cost the shelter $54,000 a month to do what we do,” said organizer Mary Beth Knapp.
The cut of thrift shop hours due to the coronavirus pandemic, along with overall economic uncertainty have made this year a challenge. Yet the humane society wouldn’t know it by the 600 animals served this year. The average is 750 to almost 1,000 a year.
“Nothing seemed to dip,” Knapp said. “Animals didn’t stop coming in. Kittens didn’t stop. Things are still happening.”
Organizers understand many people who may regularly donate are going through their own economic ups and downs, so they have to be delicate when and how they make funding requests. The Christmas and now Halloween shop is a way to offer something fun and worthwhile while still raising revenue.
“We’re hoping that month offsets some of our loss,” Knapp said. “We’re doing a bunch of things differently.”
For more information, visit the York County Humane Society on Facebook.
