The Mayflower Residents Association (MRA) of The Mayflower Community (Grinnell, Iowa) operates a retail store, The Mini Gift Shop. Operations are managed by a committee of resident members of the MRA. The stock is gifts of residents’ and friends’ gently used (some never used) personal items. The Committee gets items ready for sale, prices them, and attractively displays them in the Pearson building lower-level shop.
In 1975, resident Ruth Gray taught ceramics classes in the current space. Her students and she sold the crafts at a Christmas Bazaar. The proceeds were used for art supplies and equipment. This went on until in 1979, when MRA president, George Ernst, appointed a committee of residents to manage the gift shop. This cycle of accepting items from residents and reselling them begun in 1980 and has lasted for 39 years. Since its inception, the Mini Gift Shop has earned and donated almost $200,000 to Mayflower projects.
The 2018 Mini Gift Shop Committee was composed of Bonnie Buntz, Chair; Bev Anderson; Rey Evans; Kathy Herman; Carolyn Runyan; Phyllis Saunders; and MJ Zimmerman. They had a very successful sales year, buoyed by an aggressive Christmas promotion.
With 2018 earnings of approximately $7,000, the Committee asked the MRA to allocate gifts of $4,000 to the Mayflower Human Needs Endowment Fund and $3,000 to the Mayflower Open Dining project. Pictured above is Bonnie presenting the “check” to Mayflower Executive Director, Steve Langerud.
The Mini Gift Shop is open six days a week, 9:30-11:30am except for Thursdays, which is 2:00-4:00pm. It is closed on Sundays.
– Bob Mann, Sales & Marketing Director