Community Corner

Mather Thrift Shop Celebrates 40 Years of Bargains

All-volunteer shop has donated $3 million to the hospital over four decades.

After forty years, the is still going strong offering donated items for sale at low prices.

When the comes to Port Jefferson, there are, , a slew of to choose from. Even when the Business Men’s Association got all the businesses in Port Jefferson to agree to a big "Bargain Day" rolling prices all the way back to "the biggest dollar’s worth that you have ever received for a dollar since the beginning of the war." Word War I, that is.

Four decades ago, the Mather Hospital Thrift Shop opened its doors in the little white Victorian building on North Country Road next to the hospital. Since then it has been a steady source of fundraising income for programs and services donated by the Hospital Auxiliary, the all-volunteer organization that runs the shop.

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The Thrift Shop offers bargains on a stock of donated items like near-new women’s and men’s designer clothing, household linens, dinnerware, crystal and assorted bric-a-brac, according to a statement by the hospital about the anniversary. Opened Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., most items run between $3 and $5.

The shop was started by Marcia Tooker and Phyllis Godbee. Dot Milau, the Thrift Shop treasurer for 40 years, said the shop has donated $3 million to the Hospital. All net proceeds from the sales of donated items benefit the Hospital.

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