Hospital Assoc. retiring thrift shop operation

Hospital Assoc. retiring thrift shop operation

SEAN BRADY The thrift shop will be operated under private ownership after June 30.

Route 88 store raised money for hospital

since 1973

BY KARL VILACOBA

Staff Writer

BRICK — The Brick Hospital Association Thrift Shop will end its over 31-year run of fund raising and community service at the end of the month, it was announced last week.

Norma Pols, who has served as the thrift shop’s manager since 1976, said it was no longer economically viable for the association (recently renamed the Ocean Medical Center Association) to operate the store. Between maintenance, rent and other expenses, it was costing over $4,000 per month and $50,000 per year to stay open, according to association President Harvey Langer.

"We appreciate the community’s support over the years," Langer said. "It’s a sad day. We’re teary-eyed over the closing, but it’s time to move on."

The store will be transferred to private ownership and renamed the Brick Thrift Shop after June 30. Pols said she and other thrift shop volunteers would probably continue to help out at the new store, which will absorb the association’s remaining inventory. The store’s merchandise will be drastically reduced during a clearance sale Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., she said.

The hospital association is a fund-raising arm for what is now the Meridian Health-owned Ocean Medical Center. The group’s volunteers raise money for various projects and facility upgrades through craft fairs, raffles, auctions, golf tournaments and other events. The thrift shop opened in 1973, more than a decade earlier than Brick Hospital’s July 4, 1984, grand opening.

"We kept the name ‘Brick Hospital’ before the public — that was the main thing," Pols said. "It was only a dream at one time."

Pols said she will fondly remember the times the thrift shop came to the aid of people in need, whether through sending relief packages to Haitian flood victims or clothing Brick residents left homeless after fires.

"It has taken up a big part of my life. Now it’s time to slow down and smell the roses," Pols said. "It’s a nice couple that’s taking over, and I wish them the best."