‘You name it, I’ve washed it’

Donna Askew has been doing other people’s laundry for more than 20 years, but she doesn’t mind. It’s all for a good cause.

It’s fair to say Askew has washed, dried, mended and hung up thousands of shirts, blouses, dresses, T-shirts and trousers during her tenure as volunteer laundress at the Nearly New Shop at 961 Portage Ave.

“You name it, I’ve washed it… underwear and socks and lots of bedding and tablecloths and runners… if you’ve washed it at home in your washer, I’ve washed it in mine,” she says, laughing.

The shop attracts more than 50 customers daily, many who have come to rely on it.

But the tills ring even before people walk through the front door. Back-room volunteers snap up items that catch their eye.

“Some of the stuff doesn’t get out front because we volunteers will see something and say, ‘I like that,’ or, ‘my daughter might like that,’” shop co-manager Kim Taylor says. “If I like something I’ll ask the girls to price it so I can buy it.”

Taylor is first port of call for all donations. Winnipeggers turn up at the back of the shop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., lugging bags jammed full of items they no longer need or want.

Affectionately referred to as a “super-sorter,” Taylor’s movements are swift and economical as she meticulously checks each donated item before placing it in one of several piles.

Pieces that have met her exacting standards are passed on to the other volunteers who put clothes on hangers and place non-fabric items on shelves lining the shop’s walls.

Anything deemed unclean is put into big, blue Ikea shopping bags, ready for Askew’s weekly Tuesday laundry dropoff and pickup.

“I would say 90 per cent of what we get is in good shape. If they’re a bit dirty we just launder them. If they have stains we can’t get out we either give them away to one of the (social service) agencies, or one of the volunteers drops it off in the fabric recycling bin near her house,” Taylor says.

There’s not much Askew can’t get clean with a little bit of laundry detergent and a cold water wash in her 20-year old Maytag machine. And she’s got a few tricks up her sleeve to tackle tougher stains.

“We really like the things to be clean when they come to us, but of course I’d be out of a job then,” she says.

“If we get dress shirts that look like they’ve never been washed I pre-treat them with Head and Shoulders shampoo or a concoction of Dawn soap and alcohol sprayed on around the neck. But if they have any perspiration stains, we don’t keep them. We’re ‘nearly new,’ so things that are not in what we consider pristine condition we don’t put for sale.”

Askew didn’t always do the shop’s laundry on Tuesdays.

Before she retired she would fit in the washing whenever she could, when she wasn’t working as assistant head nurse on the burn surgery ward, and then in the NICU at Children’s Hospital, all while raising four sons with husband Jerry.

“It’s not so onerous. I would rarely have more than four or five loads a week… it’s not that bad,” she says.

The shop has become an important part of the community, providing quality items at affordable prices. The staff accept all sorts of donations, except large pieces of furniture, due to lack of storage space.

Clothes, especially for babies and children, are always welcome, as long as they are clean and in good condition. Anyone planning to donate should pack clothes in boxes rather than in bags, Askew advises.

“If they’re in garbage bags, everything is just squashed and really wrinkly. If the clothes are clean and don’t need to be washed, then it’s just nicer if it’s in a box rather than in a bag. It’s less trouble because we don’t need to iron or steam them,” she says.

The Nearly New Shop is managed by the Children’s Hospital Guild of Manitoba Inc. and staffed by volunteers who devote thousands of hours to keep things running smoothly.

The thrift store, which can trace its beginnings to 1929, moved from its original location on Osborne Street several times through the years, finally ending up on Portage Avenue.

All proceeds from sales go directly to the Children’s Hospital Foundation, and in 2025 staff donated $115,290 from sales of vintage crockery, glassware, clothing, linens, toys, shoes and books, among other things.

For more information on volunteering opportunities visit childrenshospitalguildmanitoba.ca.

If you know a special volunteer, please contact AV.Kitching@freepress.mb.ca