The Mark-It Place
Being Part of A Mission
From the December 2008 Messenger
As those who attended know, the November 10th service was devoted to missions and the work done by members of the congregation. It was pointed out that we are all able to get involved in this important commitment in various ways. My “mission” in writing this is to suggest a way to accomplish this goal.
The Mark-It Place is the thrift shop founded by members of our church many years ago. It is manned solely by volunteers and all profits are used to support various charities. A meeting of the workers is held late in the fall each year to determine the distribution and amount of each gift. Last year these included our church Meals On Wheels, the Hyde Park Food Pantry, Veterans at Castle Point, Dutchess Outreach, Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together, two Methodist missions in Kentucky, the American Red Cross, the Poughkeepsie Lunchbox, Helping Hand, and the Grace Smith House.
For those who haven’t visited our store, it is located on the west side of Route 9 in the plaza just south of the traffic light at Pine Woods Road. We accept clothing and miscellaneous articles, both consigned and donated and may have a selection of more merchandise than any store in Hyde Park!
We are open six days a week from 10 to 3pm and at the present time, we are in need of more volunteers to enable us to continue this important goal of helping others. Many of our valuable workers have either retired and moved away or have had the misfortune of debilitating illness. Therefore, we are in need of some additional people to fill in the gaps. Most of our present volunteers are at the store once or twice a month but many have had to fill in more often which has become difficult. If your schedule doesn’t have time for a full day every month, you may be able to fill in on a substitute basis when someone is ill or out of town. Or, if not for a full day, possibly you could manage a half day?
Working at the Mark-It Place is not only a way to meet people from the community and make new friends, but a very special way to bring the blessings of Christ’s work through our church and local organizations to those many people in need who we call brothers and sisters. I look forward to meeting you as we continue this mission work together.
Eileen Lawlor