While continuing to earn big bucks through its thrift shop for local scholarships and health agencies year after year, volunteers with the Sequim-Dungeness Hospital Guild recently took a few hours to honor each other and their efforts.

More than 30 volunteers from the guild met for a volunteer appreciation luncheon on Dec. 6, with food catered by Sunshine Café and various giveaways hosted inside Olympic Theatre Arts.

Guild president Nancy McGovern said it was their first volunteer appreciation event since 2017.

“We are celebrating the amazing hard work that got us through COVID and the continuing commitment made by the volunteers to keep an organization alive that was formed in 1976,” she said.

The all-volunteer Thrift Shop at 204 W. Bell St. opens 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, on the first and third week of each month, with donations accepted 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Its last opening of the year is Dec. 15-17 and reopens to donations in February 2023 and for sales in March 2023 after a deep cleaning of the shop and training new volunteers, McGovern said.

This year, the shop has given about $64,000 to local agencies, including Clallam County Fire District 3 ($38,000), Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County ($15,000), Peninsula College nursing scholarships ($10,000) and KSQM 91.5 FM ($1,000).

Past years have included the Dungeness Valley Health and Wellness Clinic (Sequim Free Clinic), Olympic Medical Center, other community health agencies and scholarships.

In total, the guild has given more than $2.33 million to the community.

There are about 40 active volunteers with the Thrift Shop, members said, with many staying committed for decades.

Rebecca Zander said she started volunteering in 1988 after a friend recommended she get involved with the guild.

She works about six hours a month for the fun of it, she said.

“Most of what we wear comes from the shop,” Zander said.

“We pay full price like everyone else so there are no perks, but we do get first look and it’s a lot of fun.”

Suzi Schmidt, a retired TWA flight attendant and past guild president/board member, started volunteering in 1998 and finds fellow volunteers to be “a great group of women to work with.”

“The shop is a vital part of the community,” she said.

It provides a place for people to shop, meet others, and give donations that will be respected, Schmidt said.

For more about the Sequim Dungeness Hospital Guild & Thrift Shop, call 360-683-7044 or find the thrift shop’s page on Facebook.