Gift cards for children’s consignment shop benefit charitable organizations
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Sarah Robinson leads children in song and praise during the 2019 edition of the LIve Nativity she hosts each year at her Peters Township business in Donaldson’s Crossroads shopping center.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Sarah Robinson speaks during the February opening of her business’ second location, in North Strabane Township. Also pictured is Garret Donovan, Iddy Biddy Fashions CEO.
As a certain November holiday rapidly approached, Sarah Robinson received a call from a friend with the City Mission in Washington.
“They were short about 50 turkeys for their Thanksgiving drive, which was happening in like two days from the time of her phone call,” Robinson said.
She promptly posted a request on social media asking friends if they’d consider making donations, and the most efficient way to do so was through her personal PayPal account.
“And you’re kind of skeptical: OK, are people going to trust me? I’m just going to start taking money and give it to the mission?” she said. “But they did, and within two hours, $950 was raised, and we were able to deliver all of the turkeys that very night.”
Plus the donations financed a $450 gift card for side dishes.
“It fuels me,” she said about the display of generosity, “and it really makes me realize the things that I want to do for other people.”
Her latest effort is through Iddy Biddy Fashions, her consignment business for children’s clothing and other products for youngsters, which has a longtime store in Peters Township and a recently opened location in North Strabane.
She is making gift cards available for donation to the City Mission and to another nonprofit she has helped in the past, the Salvation Army Washington Worship and Service Center.
“These are organizations that have been around for a long time, and they can put it directly into the flow of the community,” she said.
In the mission’s case, items available at Iddy Biddy Fashions can come in handy for young mothers and their children who are staying there. According to Anne Wightman, Robinson’s friend at the mission, the gift cards can be presented to the mothers “when they get their keys,” which means moving into more permanent housing.
During the past two holiday seasons, Iddy Biddy Fashions has hosted a “Treasures for Children” tree on behalf of the Salvation Army in the lobby outside the Peters location at Donaldson’s Crossroads shopping center. Youngsters write gift requests on tags to hang on the tree, for fulfillment by folks with big hearts.
“All of the kids’ wishes were met,” Robinson reported about the most recent tree. “And even after the tags were filled, we had customers coming in with toys that they purchased brand new – I didn’t even know some of the customers, personally – and they were dropping them off because they believed in our community efforts. They would say things like, ‘We know you’ll find the right person to give this to.'”
Regarding her gift cards benefiting the charitable organizations, she likes to call it a “quadruple win,” as Iddy Biddy Fashions consignors receive 50% of sales.
And the cards’ sale helps her business as she copes with the uncertainty of conditions caused by COVID-19.
“We basically had to be innovative and take a fully functioning storefront into an online production within about 48 hours. And it’s working, sort of,” she said, with sales down substantially during March.
But she looks forward to the future with some degree of optimism.
“We’ve had a lot of people reach out saying that they can’t wait to support the shop once we reopen,” she said. “They care. They just care.”
For more information, visit www.iddybiddyfashions.com/giftcards.