Mayflower Community Outreach Thrift Shop & Food Pantry is a non-profit, welcoming place for the people of Plymouth and surrounding towns. Get in touch to see our wonderful items, donate or inquire about the food pantry. Hours: 11AM-5PM Tues-Sun, 7PM Weds.
From the Old Colony Memorial:
"Rebecca Holmes is in the back room sifting through piles of clothing – clean, gently worn and ready for a new life.
Behind her, in the store, green lights twinkle from a corner display of green glassware, an antique lamp festooned with a peacock and assorted pottery. A Christmas tree blazes from another corner, bedecked with ornaments and surrounded with decorations, while a Halloween display vies for attention with wooden ghosts, black cats and Halloween lights.
Racks upon racks of clothing, and more displays of home goods fill the center, where you can find everything from a fisherman’s wool sweater to evening gowns.
A fabulous lime green retro dress hangs on her office door, ready for the only likely candidate for use. A former Ford Modeling Agency model, Holmes’ long and lean physique will do justice to the dress, but the light, fashion banter she’s making masks a more serious mission.
Holmes was running The Thrifty Pilgrim for Catholic Charities at Cordage Park before it closed last year. She had been working there as a volunteer when she was asked to manage the operation, helping hundreds of customers stay fed through the nonprofit’s food pantry, and stay clothed through its second-hand clothing. Her heart lurched over the fate of these customers whom she’d gotten to know as they shared their struggles. Holmes offered a kind word, a helpful piece of inspiration and sent them on their way, with packages filled with food and clothes – the basics many could no longer afford.
The days and months that followed the closing of The Thrifty Pilgrim haunted Holmes, who had coffees with the volunteers she’d befriended. And then it was clear. She needed to open her own nonprofit thrift store and food pantry to continue to help the community.
She opted to strike out on her own, forming her own nonprofit Mayflower Community Outreach Thrift Shop.
Location was an issue, she said, until Bill Hallisey, a former selectman and owner of Shiretown Glass & Home Center, offered her the perfect solution. Why not locate in the wide open basement area of his property at 182 Standish Ave.?
Mayflower Community Outreach Thrift Shop has opened in this location. The entrance is located in the rear of the building; just follow the signs.
Holmes, who is a Mayflower descendant, said her dad, Thomas Holmes, has been wonderful, picking up food at the Plymouth Food Bank on Obery Street and delivering it to the store."
