Editor's note: This story was originally published on Dec. 3, 2020.
Buying gifts for friends and family during the holidays can be a satisfying experience.
Buying gifts for friends and family while supporting groups and organizations that make your community better can be downright exhilarating.
Shops that benefit nonprofits and charitable organizations dot Tucson’s retail landscape, making it easy to give while you receive.
Here are five spots that help improve our city.
Gerry Bates, retired Tucson Fire Department assistant chief, helps set up the Tucson Fire Foundation Estate Sale Store, 2801 E. Grant Road. The store benefits the Fire Foundation.
Safe Shift — Tucson Fire Foundation Estate Sale Store
2801 E. Grant Road; facebook.com/safeshift
Open to the public the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday of each month, and during the occasional flash sale, Safe Shift is 8,500 square feet of rare antiques, vintage items, furniture, appliances, tools, collectibles, art and jewelry.
The store, which relocated to its current East Grant Road location in late 2019, originally launched in 2017 to help fund the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation. The Fire Foundation is a nonprofit organization that started in 2010 and provides programs for firefighters who serve in Southern Arizona, and their families. Safe Shift is the primary fundraising arm for the Fire Foundation, says Mike McKendrick, chairman of the foundation and one of the lead coordinators at the store.
“The Fire Foundation focuses on firefighter health and wellness, cardiac cancer, and mental health — the three main killers of firefighters,” McKendrick said.
With every dollar spent, 96 cents of that dollar goes into programing for the Fire Foundation. Programs include cancer prevention, counseling and crisis services, injury prevention and Firefighters Beyond Borders, which is a support program that connects firefighters in Arizona to firefighters in Israel.
Safe Shift’s next sale is Thursday, Dec.3-Saturday, Dec. 5
Austin Graham, a clerk at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona Thrift Store, inventories donated items in the back of the store, 5311 E. Speedway. The store’s most popular item is furniture. All proceeds from the store go directly to the Humane Society.
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona Thrift Store
5311 E. Speedway; facebook.com/HSSAThriftStore
If you love your pets, chances are you would enjoy a trip to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona Thrift Store, just west of North Craycroft Road on East Speedway.
The shop, which sells an array of gently used items, including books, gym equipment, bikes, clothing and collectibles, supports The Humane Society’s local operations. The HSSA has been around since 1944 and provides services, such as shelter and placement for dogs and cats, and education for pet owners.
Money made at the thrift shop, for example, will help fund things like classes ranging from teaching dogs to avoid rattlesnakes to cruelty prevention.
“A lot of people think of us as just a shelter or a place to adopt, and that’s great because that is what we are good at, but really we are a multi-prong approach to animal welfare in general,” said Randy Peterson, director of marketing and communication with the HSSA.
The 6,000-square-foot store’s most popular item is furniture. The Humane Society has a working relationship with Sam Levitz Furniture, where the Tucson-based furniture company donates pieces that have been discontinued or have served as showroom models.
A White Elephant Thrift Store volunteer moves merchandise at the store, 601 N. La Cañada Drive, Green Valley. Over more than 50 years, the shop has given about $32 million back to the community.
The White Elephant Thrift Store
601 N. La Cañada Drive, Green Valley; facebook.com/GVWhiteElephant
It’s not uncommon to find a line of people waiting to get into The White Elephant Thrift Store in the mornings before it opens. At 34,400 square feet, the building is bursting at the seams with good deals on everything from clothing to books to artwork.
The shop, in its many forms, has been giving back to the community since 1964. Much of the revenue made at the end of the year get distributed among 120 local organizations, including food banks, schools, social service organizations and various nonprofits.
An army of volunteers helps keep things running smoothly, and donations from the community are plentiful.
“We are careful with what we put in our store,” said Karen Lavo, the White Elephant’s general manager. “If something doesn’t meet our criteria, then it goes into what we call our charity boxes, and it is shared with five other charities.”
Over the years, the White Elephant has given about $32 million dollars back to the community.
Benefiting organizations have included the Amado Food Bank, the Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs and Green Valley-Sahuarita Community Food Bank.
Shoppers can find everything from formal dresses to electronics to dishes at the Casa de los Niños Thrift Store, 1302 E. Prince Road.
Casa de los Niños Thrift Store
1302 E. Prince Road; facebook.com/Casathrift
Casa de los Niños thrift store opened in 1975, two years after the nonprofit that shares its name launched. The 47-year-old Casa de los Niños started as a crisis center for children but over the years has shifted its focus to crisis prevention.
The sales from Casa de los Niños’ thrift store support the services and programs that they provide for families and children. That includes offering assistance to new moms, making sure women have healthy pregnancies, and making sure children meet the important milestones in their first two years of life. Casa de los Niños also has its own foster care program that provides foster homes and foster families for children.
The funds go to the programs and services with the greatest need. This year, 57% of its annual expenses for the 2020 fiscal year have gone toward behavioral health programs, one of its largest service programs.
The 19,268-square-foot thrift store is filled with a wide range of items such as clothing, shoes, kitchenware, electronics, holiday decorations and furniture.
“I think a lot of times people don’t know the quality of items that they can find in a thrift store,” said Lisa Webster, the vice president of development and public relations for Casa de los Niños. “When you walk into a store like that, you never quite know what you are going to find, and that is part of the fun of it.”
Christmas ornaments are available at the Saguaro National Park Store, 3693 S. Old Spanish Trail.
The Western National Parks Association National Parks Store
12880 N. Vistoso Village Dr., Oro Valley; wnpa.org
When you buy a cactus-themed T-shirt or a children’s book based on the adventures of a young javelina during your next visit to Saguaro National Park East, you are helping the park system through the Western National Parks Association.
The Western National Parks Association was created in 1938 as a nonprofit education partner of the National Park Service. The association has a formal relationship with 71 national parks throughout the country.
In Southern Arizona, that includes parks like Saguaro National Park East, 3693 S. Old Spanish Trail; Saguaro National Park West, 2700 N. Kinney Road; and Tumacácori National Historic Park in Tumacácori, off Interstate 19, south of Tubac.
The WNPA, which is headquartered in Tucson, also has a store at 12880 N. Vistoso Village Drive in Oro Valley.
Some of the themed items that are sold in park stores in the Tucson area include handcrafted pottery, jewelry, kachinas, books, Oaxacan woodcarvings, desert-themed games, stuffed animals and national park clothing and collectibles.
“We have a wide variety of books, T-shirts and collectibles for people to appreciate the parks and carry the love of the park forward to their families and friends,” said Jim Cook, the executive director and chief executive officer of the WNPA.
Proceeds from the park’s stores go directly back into the parks as grants. The grants help fund social research and free programs that the parks provide visitors. One of its most popular programs is its Junior Ranger program for children.
The National Park Store also offers events, such as book signings and educational talks from park rangers.
