Lehighton thrift store raises funds for Trinity Pantry with annual Christmas sale

The Trinity Thrift Store in Lehighton will hold its 11th annual Christmas sale this weekend at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Luther Hall at Third and Iron streets. Proceeds benefit the Trinity Food Pantry, which serves needy families in the Lehighton Area School District.

The sale starts on Black Friday and continues on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. each day.

This year’s sale will feature indoor and outdoor decorations, ornaments, lights, jewelry, toys, candles, angels, clothing and household items. A variety of small appliances, artificial trees and wreaths are also available for sale.

Because the thrift store relies entirely on donations, the selection at the annual sale and main store varies by year depending on what is donated. Thrift store manager Kay Patterson said the store saves its best donations and many new, still-boxed items for its Christmas sale. The main store is simply too small to display many of the new items, and the Christmas sale gives customers a chance to buy potential gifts at a greatly reduced price.

The four-day sale accounts for a significant portion of the thrift store’s annual income and raises thousands of dollars toward its $40,000 annual goal. All of the thrift store’s sales are organized by volunteers, ensuring that every dollar spent goes directly to local families.

“There is still a big need in the community for food, and the money that we earn goes to help defray some of that expense,” said Patterson, who is also a volunteer. “For us to reach our $40,000 goal or above, this is a big deal. This is four days of intense selling, and we have saved the best, and new items, for this weekend. It’s a very important sale for us and we’re grateful for the community’s support.”

She said that while local businesses have been very generous with food and monetary donations to the Trinity Food Pantry this year, the pantry still relies heavily on the community and thrift store to feed a growing number of hungry families each month.

“There’s still a lot to be done,” Patterson said.

The Trinity Food Pantry is located next to the Trinity Thrift Store and serves more than 1,000 men, women and children in the Lehighton Area School District, providing bags of food adjusted for the size of each family once per month. The number of people and families seeking help has remained consistently high and continues to grow.

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church is located at 175 S. Third St. in Lehighton. The Thrift Store’s Christmas sale is located in Luther Hall. The main thrift store will be open normal hours during the sale, Tuesday from 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. and Wednesday and Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.