During a recent United Church of Los Alamos service, Women’s Christian Service Society Treasurer Adda Moldt was joined by some of the volunteers as she announced more than $1 million raised in last 28 years at the Thrift Shop, all for select charities in New Mexico. Courtesy photo
The United Church of Los Alamos Thrift Shop is open 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays. Courtesy photo
United Church of Los Alamos Thrift Shop News:
Hundreds of volunteers and an unimaginable number of volunteer hours have gone into recycling donated gently used or new clothing and small household items into more than $1,105,000 over the last 28 years, which has been plowed back into many charitable causes in Northern New Mexico.
The Women’s Christian Service Society (WCSS) annually vets the non-profits in Northern New Mexico (including Los Alamos) for allotting all money received so that 100% of money from the sales in the Thrift Shop flows back into the broader non-profit community.
Starting in 1972, the WCSS of the United Church decided to have their occasional rummage sales every week in the basement [of the former 1940s army chapel]. Originally, it was not a fundraiser for Missions but a service to the community offering low-cost clothing and kitchen items.
Eventually, under the leadership of member Florence Harlow, it evolved into more of an affordable boutique. Needing accessible space with no treacherous stairs, and closer to parking, in 2013, the move to its present location was accomplished off the United Church’s west parking lot at 2545 Canyon Road. Sales picked up greatly at this location.
Based on the previous year’s total sales, the 2025 WCSS Missions Budget is $83, 288.28. Current WCSS Treasurer Adda Moldt has financial records from 1998 to the present. She made a list of the Missions Budget for each year and discovered that the grand total for those years was $1.1+ million in monetary contributions to deserving New Mexico charities.
Thank you, Los Alamos Community and beyond, for clean and useable donations, as well as shopping at the United Church Thrift Shop. Many volunteer hours behind the scenes every week go into sorting usable items and keeping them out of the landfills and arroyos, thus turning them into much needed cash for a broad variety of human services helping Northern New Mexicans. Thank you, Thrift Shop volunteers for your service!
The Thrift Shop is open 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays.
Learn more about the United Church Thrift Shop at https://www.unitedchurchla.org/thrift-shop. To volunteer, the Thrift Shop can be found at volunteerlosalamos.org.