Anonymous €1,200 donation halts closure of charity shop
By Aideen O'Flaherty
CHRISTMAS has come early for the Manna Charity Shop in the Brookfield Enterprise Centre, after an anonymous donor has offered to pay the rates for the shop for the coming year – saving it from closure.
As previously reported in The Echo, the shop was facing the prospect of closure at the end of this month as they were struggling to pay a fee of €1,200 per year in rates, and had unsuccessfully tried to get an exemption from paying rates, as the shop is a not-for-profit enterprise.
Customers and staff outside Manna Charity shop in October
The money raised in the shop is put into tailored intervention activities for all parents and children living in the area, including the foodbank at Tallaght Family Church and the YMCA PAKT (Parents and Kids Together) programme.
The shop staff – a team of six volunteers and Tús and CE workers are on hand to help customers during the opening hours of 10am to 2pm on weekdays, except Friday, when it closes at 1pm – were delighted to find out on Monday that the shop will remain open for another year, thanks to a generous donation from an anonymous donor.
Lynda Dible, volunteer manager of the Manna Charity Shop, told The Echo: “We have an anonymous donor who’s offered to pay our rents for 2020 – it just shows that miracles do happen. Now we’re heading into the new year free of any debt.
“We want to say thank you to all of the people who have supported us, and especially Rene in Partas.
“We also want to say thank you to the person who read the piece about us in The Echo, and had such a kind heart that they decided to make this generous donation.
“The girls [who volunteer in the shop] are thrilled with it – it’s terrific. Now we know that we’ll be open for business again next year.
“We’ll be able to continue on with the work that we do, helping people who need help.”
Volunteer staff and customers are relieved that it will continue to be business as usual for the charity shop, and the volunteers are already in the process of decorating the shop for Christmas.
The shop is now accepting donations, and they are looking for glittery party dresses in particular.
The shop will close for several weeks from December 18 to mid-January – which they do every year.
To keep updated on what’s going on in the shop follow the Manna Charity Shop page on Facebook.
