Volunteering
As a volunteer, you can gain personal satisfaction from helping others, obtain experience
relevant to your future employment or educational plans, and meet new people!
Please click the link below to fill out the application form
to apply for volunteer opportunities at the New To You Store.
New to You Volunteer Departments
ARTWORK
A love of artwork goes a long way in sorting and pricing art! Pricing varies on quality and origin of artwork.
AUDIO/VIDEO
This is a quicker training period because there is no pricing to learn and it can be done sitting or standing. Involves checking for scratches and cleaning the product before stocking the shelves.
BOOKS – ADULT & CHILDRENS
This department is suited for those with a love of books/reading and literature. Initial training is a bit faster than some departments because the pricing is relatively standardized. You will begin with stocking the store shelves learning how the books are sorted and seeing which ones move. Once that is mastered, you can move onto sorting and pricing of the books. Pricing also requires you to learn which ones sell best. A passing familiarity and interest in children’s literature will be useful. Some light lifting and bending to classify books and stock the shelves is required.
CASHIER/PACKER
Full interaction with the public, our New to You customers reflect the broad spectrum of our community and cashiers and packers enjoy that interaction as the public face of NTY. Training includes working the new POS registers, although prior retail experience can speed up the initial training.
CLOTHING and ACCESSORIES
Training focuses on top-notch quality, and pricing is standardized for most items, although ability to recognize outstanding quality and brands is useful for identifying unique items for special pricing. Sometimes your shift will be full of treasures, sometimes not so much but ALL soft textiles are Recycled. Interest in fashion trends is helpful but not necessary.
CRAFTS
Includes Sewing, Knitting, Craft Books, Patterns and all other adult crafting supplies. Prior personal craft experience is helpful, training includes pricing. Sorting is meticulous since components of a craft are often saved in anticipation of a packaged collection. Volunteers are interdependent on organized storage of these bits. Product presentation is valued.
ELECTRICAL
Products include Small Appliances, Audio/Video Equipment, Lighting, and Vacuum Cleaners. A great place to tinker and recycle for those who have an enjoyment of refurbishing. Tools are provided and respect of a shared organizational system is needed. Background in things electric and related safety concerns is required.
FLOATERS
We are always looking for extra help in departments as the need arises. Floaters are usually trained in multiple departments and love the flexibility of frequently working on different tasks.
HOUSEWARES
Anticipate a detailed training period with ongoing direction because of the huge variety of items and quality sorted in housewares. Includes Kitchen Items, Cleaning Products, Picture Frames, Knick-Knacks, Health and Beauty, etc. That variety keeps this interesting, however the love of light cleaning is always welcomed.
LINENS
Includes Bedding, Towels, Curtains and Fabric. Careful checking, training and ongoing direction required. Training includes pricing which can vary considerably. Presentation is very important and ideally work is done in pairs to help with folding.
PRE-SORT (Donation Receiver)
Best part for many in pre-sort is the variety in a fast paced environment. You see everything that comes into the store during your shift. Your training is done with one of the part time employees that oversee this critical area. Lifting is required and you are often moving from inside to outside.
SEASONAL
This department focuses on Easter, Thanksgiving/Halloween, and Christmas. Only the best of the best make it into our Seasonal department. Items are priced and stored until seasonally appropriate.
TOYS
Presentation of product is an important component. Sorting is often detailed since parts of incomplete toys are saved in anticipation of a future match. Prior knowledge can be useful but not essential. Pricing expertise will be acquired through training, prior knowledge and online investigation. Toys include Dolls, Sports Equipment, Puzzles and Games, Stuffed Toys, Dress-Up Costumes, and Children’s Furniture.
