Card Shops Are Open for Charity

In 1971, Sheila Hallas, a loyal charity volunteer in Cheshire, England, started what she thought would be a one-time holiday project — to organize shops where charities could sell Christmas greeting cards. The idea turned out to be so popular that she has continued to do it every year since then — last year bringing in $195,054 for about 60 organizations.

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The participating charities pay nothing to be involved and keep 100 per cent of what they make through sales. A diverse group of charities participate, including the Cancer Research Campaign, the National Eczema Society, and National Deaf Children’s Society.

Everyone who takes part in organizing the event is a volunteer. Expenses such as rent, telephones, and advertising are covered by the sale of toys, candy, and other stocking stuffers that are sold in the card shops.

The benefits of the shop are more than financial, says Joy Wolfe, a volunteer at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. “It’s a great benefit to us in terms of the actual money that is raised, but more importantly, it keeps the profile in the public as well,” she says, adding that people travel as far as 100 miles to buy cards at the store.

For more information, contact Sheila Hallas, Fullpoint, Oak Lea Avenue, Fulshaw Park, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 1QL, United Kingdom; fax (011) (44) (162) 553-7422.