By Maggie FitzRoy
mail@floridanewsline.com
When Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry (BEAM) opened a thrift store in Jacksonville Beach nine years ago, Ponte Vedra Beach resident Dottie Gandee volunteered to work there. The store, called 7 North, at 318 7th Ave. North, is stocked with like-new items, including men and women’s clothing, furniture, décor, linens, and jewelry.
Gandee is one of more than 100 volunteers from around the Beaches, including many from Ponte Vedra Beach, who help run BEAM’s thrift stores.
“We couldn’t do it without them,” says thrift store manager Jenny Gaynor.
7 North, which resembles a small attractively laid-out department store, “is basically volunteer run,” says Gaynor, one of the few paid employees. “Specialty volunteers price items and everybody has their niche, including the cashiers. They are the face, the ambassadors.”
Gandee works the cash register every Tuesday afternoon and enjoys volunteering for BEAM so much that she also takes a shift at the nonprofit organization’s food bank one day a week.
“I like to volunteer for an organization that is very effective and a good part of the community,” she says. “I’m very impressed with the organization and the people here. It’s an inspiration to me to be around people who are happily doing something good.”
Founded in 1985, BEAM’s mission is to provide emergency assistance and a bridge to financial stability for Beaches area residents in six zip codes. The organization provides food, financial, and special initiative assistance, and sales from its three Jacksonville Beach thrift stores provide 40 percent of the revenue stream. In addition to 7 North — the most popular store — Shetter, at 1110 Shetter Ave., stocks tools, outdoor items, medical and sports equipment and electronics. Another store at 1147 1st Ave. South, called 1 South, carries infant, children, and maternity clothing, crafts, toys, books, and games.
Everything in every store has been donated by people in the community. And the stores draw customers from around the community.
Ponte Vedra Beach resident Gayle Enzel was looking to volunteer somewhere meaningful, and after hearing about BEAM from her friend and neighbor, Dottie Gandee, began working at 7 North in 2019. She works behind the cash register every Wednesday afternoon, which keeps her busy because senior citizens get a 10 percent discount on “Senior Day” Wednesdays.
“We have a lot of high-end merchandise, and the store is beautifully decorated,” Enzel says. “For the most part, the stream of customers at the cash register is constant. There’s a customer every single minute.”
Mary Quinn Shalz, also of Ponte Vedra Beach, has volunteered for BEAM for many years. Her mother, Kay, helped found the organization.
“Things are donated every single day,” Shalz says. “We call this store the Neiman Marcus of Thrift. Stuff doesn’t stay around long at all. We only put out things that are in good condition.”
Donated items can be dropped off at the back of the store, where there is a large loading dock and storage area. “A lot happens before items go out into the store,” Shalz says, including sorting, cleaning, and organizing by volunteers who specialize in specific items.
Prices are so fair and affordable that “there’s about a 60 to 65 percent turnover of items on display every week,” Gandee says. “Sometimes it’s difficult to volunteer here because there are so many things to buy.”
Photo courtesy Maggie FitzRoy
Mary Quinn Shalz, Dottie Gandee, and Gayle Enzel volunteer at 7 North, a BEAM thrift store in Jacksonville Beach.
