Have you ever left behind something at the airport or had something confiscated by security?
From nail clippers to lost jackets and electronics, a shop hailed as the ultimate thrift store is putting all of those items up for sale, and helping travellers and airport staff in need in the process.
Chaplain Layne Daggett runs the Charity Thrift Store near the Vancouver Airport. Open every Friday at noon, bargain hunters line up for bins of confiscated scissors, nail clippers, reading glasses and small tools.
There’s also dozens of unclaimed strollers, racks of plush neck pillows and mountains of left-behind clothing.
Diane Vandun frequently shops in the store for her eight grandchildren.
"I can fill up a bag for $5 -- so you have to learn to roll it really tight,” she said.
The most coveted items are the pocket knives seized by airport security.
There are also unusual items you wouldn’t expect to find in a store like this, including a purse with skull rings on it, an authentic Australian boomerang and a paperweight full of Alaskan fool’s gold.
Customer Fiona Prevost even bought a bathroom tap here once.
"I looked it up online. It was $150 and it works perfectly,” she said.
“Nothing much surprises me anymore.”
Daggett says some items culled from the lost and found department still amaze him.
“For me it was the 25-foot boat antenna. You sort of wonder how some one could sort of misplace that,” he said.
All proceeds from the thrift store go to help fund the Vancouver Airport Chaplaincy, which has been operating since 1983. It serves the 22,000 people who work at YVR and the millions of passengers who pass through the terminal each year as well.
"We do quite a bit of work with people who are stranded … buying tickets occasionally for teenagers who are running away from home and getting them back,” Daggett said.
One of the programs funded by the thrift store is for people who are afraid to fly, designed by Daggett himself.
He’ll often meet the anxious flyer off-site, and as counselling progresses he’ll even walk onto the plane with them before they take off.
Daggett says the program cures most people of their fear of flying. The cost is just a donation to the YVR chapel.
The thrift store raises about $15,000 a year for the YVR chapel – about one-fifth of its annual budget.
In 2009, the Chaplaincy handled more than 8,000 visits and inquiries.
The store is only open on Friday afternoons but you can get on an email list that tells you which new items are up for sale each week. They often get cameras and iPods and other expensive items to sell.
Click here for more information about the thrift store.
