Kamloops woman takes unique approach to dealing with customers

Mar 6, 2017 | 4:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — The manager of Kamloops’ Salvation Army thrift store extends herself beyond her responsibilities. 

Sally Magee, who often introduces herself as Sally from Sally Ann, is the friendly face of the thrift store, making sure the people walking into the building feel safe, and are taken care of. 

“When they come in and they say, ‘is Sally here?’ That makes my day,” Magee said.

Around two years ago, Magee started to take a different approach to the way she manages the store, which is frequented by the homeless, vulnerable street workers, and the mentally ill. 

“What I found in the first two years is we were banning everybody that came in that was shoplifting, we were turning them away,” Magee said. “Then I started to realize this could be my niece, my nephew, my son, my daughter, my cousin, my neighbour.”

Instead of throwing people out of the store, Magee began to befriend them, handing out shoes, food, or anything else they might need to survive another day. 

Magee’s new approach has significantly lowered the amount of shoplifting incidents at the thrift store, and she’s able to keep track of who’s regularly coming through the doors. 

“A lot of them give me a contact name and phone number,” she said. “It’s usually a mom, a dad, a grandma. If I don’t see them in a few weeks I have the full right to phone them first and then had they gone home that’s fine, if not I do know that there are people in the RCMP that are willing to help me out.”

Substance abuse and mental health issues have hit Kamloops hard in recent years. Magee says it’s difficult to point people in the right direction when they are finally ready to get help. 

“All our services are extended to the max,” she said. “We need more services, we need more 24-hour services. I’m sure the RCMP go through this. I’ve talked to them in depth because I have a good rapport with the North Shore RCMP. I know the hospitals, they get exhausted in One South, because they’re in, nothing can be done, and they just let them go again. It ties up a lot of our system, but if there was more services that were readily available I think it would make a huge difference.”

Magee is building trust with the people she encounters, but her kindness can only go so far. She must rely on the generosity of the community to keep providing the items her new friends need in order to survive their difficult circumstances.

“Every cent we make once our rent is paid, our utilities, and our wages, it goes right back to either the big umbrella of the family services here in the community or I’m able to give out clothes, I’m able to give out sleeping bags. We just extend it out further, and that’s what we’re all about is giving dignity to the people we meet each day and a little bit of love, and you have no idea how far that goes with these people.”