Open House for Sacred Heart Thrift Store

The Sacred Heart Thrift Store workers held an open house Tuesday. he open house was an opportunity for the workers to show to their donors and church officials the work done to restore and preserve the building that now houses the store.
The store opened 33 ore more years ago, following a ministry course, “Adventures in Attitudes,” presented by Sister Miriam Mitchell and Rob Gorman, leaders of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.
The store opened in the then-vacant children’s shop on Fifth Street, owned and operated by Mrs. Marino. Soon the business outgrew the location and moved to the corner of Second and Union Streets. They would occupy the old Simoneaux Grocery building for many years, until it was sold following the deaths of its owners.
From there, the business moved to its current location, the old Christoforo Columbo building on South Railroad Ave.
This building was built in the late 1920s for the Italian Men Society.
The memberships that had been handed down for many generations had dwindled in recent years.
With the aid of Bill Cefalu and other society members, the building was donated in 2006 to Sacred Heart Parish as a permanent location for the store. The “new” store opened for business on September 6, 2006.
The workers began immediately to clean and repair the structure. The repair work had to be done a project at a time, as funds were accumulated. With the generous donations of the Young Fund, the Italian Men Society, and the work of its many volunteer workers, the store was ready to be shown to the donors.
One last project to accomplish will be the refinishing of the old, narrow, oak board flooring. The workers have secured a contract and expect work to done in the fall when the workers change their clothing stock for the fall season.