“I had a business background and a broad base of experience,” she acknowledges. “But I guess they asked me to be on the board of the Bethesda Memorial Hospital Auxiliary because I said I would.”
Running a second-hand store is quite a feat, she points out. “Even if you paid the volunteers 50 cents an hour, you’d never make money. It’s very labor intensive.”
But, thanks to Gannon’s and others’ hard work, the auxiliary’s projects do quite well.
Between the thrift store at 12 NE Fifth Ave. in Delray Beach and the gift shop on the hospital campus, as well as money brought in through an annual card party in
the fall and a theater night during high season, the auxiliary brings in
$125,000 to $130,000 a year to pay off its current $1 million pledge for the
second-floor waiting room of the Bethesda Heart Institute — and it already has
made good on its first $1 million, which went toward the hospital’s lobby.
Some serious money, considering that a big portion comes from the sale of little gift items and bargain-priced used stuff.
How did Gannon, newly retired and recently relocated to South Florida, get roped in to all this work? Coming from Cortland, N.Y., and buying her Briny Breezes home in 2005, she was out making new friends, when she met some ladies at a church social function. “They told me, ‘You’re fun. Why not volunteer at the Bethesda Bargain Box?’ ” And she agreed.
She first served as secretary, then as president. When the new president is sworn in this fall, she’ll continue to serve on the board.
Gannon is proud that during her tenure as president, she successfully spearheaded the move to update the Bargain Box buildings.
“Now, we match the looks of any store on Atlantic Avenue,” she said.
The front of the store is set up as a boutique. Artwork is displayed in the hallway. A media room overflows with books and records, and “the barn” in the back houses furniture, appliances and linens.
There’s something for everyone and Gannon sees shoppers from all walks of life that enjoy shopping for a good deal at a leisurely no-pressure pace.
Repeat customers come in Hummers and by bus, Gannon notes. “One cute girl bought her wedding dress for $49,” Gannon recalls. “She just needed it altered and dry-cleaned. And men love anything we’ve got that’s attached to an electric cord.”
Gannon walks the walk, too. “I say I rent my clothes. I buy them from the Bargain Box one year, and turn them in later.”
She also has parcels ready to go for her children and grandchildren: a designer coat-dress, a Roxy jean jacket, J. Crew cargo pants and Lucky Brand Jeans.
She invites all to visit, and don’t forget the upcoming card party and the theater night. Call the auxiliary office for details (561) 737-7733, Ext 4467.
— Christine Davis
10 Questions for Thelma Gannon
Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I was born in central New York in a small city, Auburn, in the Finger Lakes area and grew up and went through K-12th grade in Weedsport, N.Y., an old village on the Erie Canal.Q. What have been your other careers or hobbies; what were the highlights?
A. After a 12-year hiatus for childrearing, I went to work as treasurer of a school district, and spent eight years in Cortland, N.Y. , as a school businessmanager. I finished my 30-year career at Jamesville DeWitt Central School
District, just east of Syracuse, N.Y. School administration is very rewarding
work and although I was not directly involved with student education, I was able
to help teachers and principals by judicious purchasing practices and careful
oversight of their budgets.
Q. What advice do you have for people first thinking about doing volunteer work?
A. It is important to think about what you want, not only to give, but what you would like to receive from the experience. As a transplanted New Yorker, I was hoping to meet peopleand make friends. At the same time, I felt I had some valuable skills to offer.
I experimented with a couple of job opportunities at other community agencies
before settling in with the Auxiliary.
Q. Tell us about the Auxiliary, what all do they do?
A. Bethesda Memorial Hospital has a volunteer workforce of 600 or more at any given time. Anyone who has visited there cannot help but notice the volunteers’smiling faces.
The Auxiliary is the moneymaking arm of this volunteer army. We number about 170, most of whom work in either our thrift store or our other retail store, the hospital gift shop.
We are a not-for-profit corporation and use these revenues to support our $100,000 annual pledge to the hospital building fund, as well as tuition assistance for
the employee nursery school on the hospital grounds. The Auxiliary also awards
scholarships to health career students.
Q. How did you choose to make your home in Briny Breezes?
A. Unlike most residents here, I just stumbled upon Briny while staying at the Berkshire House near the Marriott at Delray Beach. Intrigued with an opportunity to live an entirely different kind of life, I rented for two seasons and during the second season, I purchased my own, “Castle Gannon.” I sold my home in central New York, Camillus, and moved to Briny with only 15 small boxes from home. I live here year round.Q. What is your favorite part about living in Briny Breezes?
A. For me, it’s the proximity to the ocean. From my home in New York, it was a five-hour drive to see the ocean in Boston or New York City. Another blessing is that my five children and 11 grandchildren love to visit Briny. They, too, love theocean. My golf cart is anothersource of entertainment here for the kids.Q. What book are you reading now?
A. I read mostly for fun now and am never happier than when I have a new book by Pat Conroy to settle in with. Ilove his use of the English language. I’m reading South of Broadthis week.
Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A. I was fortunate to have men at work who were helpful to a woman working in what was then a man’s world, but my biggest inspiration and example is mymother. While unable to graduate from high school, she lived on her own at 17, was widowed at an early age, kept things together through the Depression and raised her family with pride and dignity.
Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
A. “Accept what you cannot change” is how I live now, but it took me many years to get here.Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
A. Katharine Hepburn.
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