By Daniel Hooker
You’re new. If you really want to be part of the community, get involved. You’ll feel better about being involved, and your body will feel better.
For me, many years ago, saving myself from pancreatic cancer and heart disease (68% blocked descending aorta) involved coming to peace with myself and finding salvation (non-religious). Finding meaning in participation in noble causes kept me alive, and sharing humor changed my cellular consciousness, which made each cell happy in turn. All this created the perfect medicine for what ailed my spirit. I healed up through the act of volunteering.
As I continue writing about food banks, farm bucks, and local farms which nourish our village of Vashon Maury Island, I wish to acknowledge one of the main contributors that enrich our way of life here on these Islands joined as one: Granny’s Attic.
Volunteering is the life-blood of this community. While shopping at Granny’s Attic, take pride in the fact that this past year $250,000 has gone back to worthy non-profits as well as other worthy institutions and programs. These include VIGA Farm Bucks and The Vashon Maury Food Bank’s Picnics In The Park. The Backpack Pantry program for Vashon School district students received $5,000, and the Senior Center received $17,000 for meals and services. And our Vashon Maury Island Food Bank also received $9,000, which is what they spend monthly for fresh produce.
Granny’s Attic employs ten people – six full-time, four part-time – with the backbone of its workforce being its 145 volunteers. “We need more,” Granny’s manager, Brian Vescovi, stated during our interview.
Brian Vascovi stated that Granny’s has a volunteer board that votes on grants given. He shared about its illustrious beginnings in 1974, to address a need to support the then year-old Vashon-Maury Health Services Center.
Brian stated that Granny’s is “The happiest place to work.” This is obvious when you walk in the door. When you smile at someone, they smile back!
Being part of this caring community, and all that makes Vashon and Maury Island unique, gives it an ambiance like no other.
So, if you are new to our Island, take pride in how we share our love in this large village by shopping at Granny’s Attic, and even volunteering with others who support this way of life.
Granny’s Attic Beginnings
When the Vashon-Maury Health Services Center began in 1973, a group of women served as volunteers. A year later, the Center board asked their volunteers to organize monetary support of the Health Center. These women started with a plant sale that raised $353. A rummage sale followed, and in due time they began a thrift store. The Health Center Volunteers dba Granny’s Attic opened to the public in June 1975. The profit for that first month was $1,120. The Health Center volunteers then voted to give the Health Center $500 a month as long as the store balance was over $500.
Today, Granny’s Attic is a beloved fixture on the Island, providing clothing, toys and household goods at affordable prices. Islanders shop to find just what they need and those “special somethings” – treasures indeed – donated by fellow Islanders.
A non-profit 501c(3) organization, Granny’s Attic grants profits from their sales to other Island organizations devoted to the healthcare and well-being of Island residents. Since 1976, Granny’s Attic has donated over $2.2 million.
