When Buyers and Donors are the Same

Now that Labor Day and the high season for visitors is behind us, everyone here on America’s favorite vacation island is rediscovering things. We forget, from year to year, how wonderful it is to see more sand and less suntan oil on our world-favorite beaches. Getting a prime tee time at one of the courses that is the envy of the golf world is another of our rediscoveries. Even the view from the top of the Harbour Town Lighthouse glows warmer and more dramatically when the sun creeps south for its vanishing point on the horizon and sends its rays at an angle that carves every object out of light.

Visitors in the know are just as likely as Hilton Head Island residents to enjoy these hidden pleasures, these rare gifts that come with our change of seasons. Similarly, this time of year brings to light a fact that is true all year, yet more easily seen right now: people who donate their fine things to The Church Mouse are also likely to be people who shop here, too.

What it Brings to the Experience

Residents and visitors alike tell us that thrift shops and consignment stores don’t measure up to an experience like this one. When you drop something off with The Church Mouse, instead of at one of the island’s consignment stores, you get the chance to see Hilton Head Island’s most carefully curated collection of well-loved things for sale.

As a result, our donors become our customers, too. The Church Mouse looks and feels more like visiting a friend’s home than browsing a thrift shop. And new items arrive every day, so a visit is never ho-hum. And when you donate an item to sell at The Church Mouse, our team of volunteers makes sure it is spruced up and looking its best. Then it joins the display among other items of the same category, in discrete mini departments arranged attractively all around the shop.

What could be a more sincere endorsement than the fact that our donors shop here, too?

A Different Model

Started years ago as a charitable endeavor by the members of a church here on Hilton Head Island, The Church Mouse put in play a different business model than a consignment store. When people bring their well-loved furniture, clothing, tableware, jewelry, furnishings, and accessories to The Church Mouse, they are committing them to do good work in the community.

Instead of returning around half of a sale price to the person who consigns the item, The Church Mouse puts far more than that sale price to work for the good of our neighbors, here in the beautiful Lowcountry where we’ve been fortunate to make our homes.

Knowing that something they have enjoyed will find its way into the hands of somebody who will value it just as highly – whether a piece of furniture or jewelry, a clothing item, a set of golf clubs or skis, a table setting they no longer use, a book they have enjoyed and completed, a piece of art – knowing that is the beginning of a feeling of satisfaction that consignment stores cannot match. Our gratitude for living or visiting here gets real when the things we no longer use can do so much good for so many.

Part of Something Greater

You become part of something greater than yourself when you donate or buy from The Church Mouse. In fact, during the nearly two decades that The Church Mouse has carried on its work, the results have directed millions in grants to charitable organizations, missions, and non-profit endeavors on behalf of the community.

Thanks to donors and buyers and those who choose to be both, Church Mouse charitable grants surged to well more than $400,000 in 2021, just when many in our community needed the help more than ever.

At The Church Mouse, you are helping others in ways that range from nutritious meals to literacy to medical care to family support. The Church Mouse makes it easy to do well while you are doing good. We’re located on Arrow Road, close to the Sea Pines Circle, and easily within reach for visitors and Hilton Head Island residents alike. Come join us for a visit and enjoy.