Christine Barr shows off the boxes, which line Manna House from floor to ceiling.

MILFORD: At The Manna House Thrift Shop in Milford, Christmas came in January.

The recent closure of the Clothesline Discount Clothing Outlet in Shubenacadie saw a lot of inventory left when their doors officially closed.

Christine Barr, with The Manna House, says the donation of more than 60 boxes of goods was an extremely pleasant surprise.

“We got boots, hats, mitts, and a lot of other general stuff, accessories like earrings and necklaces,” she listed. “We had more than 12,000 items donated.”

The boxes, stacked in some places to the ceiling, are filled with brand new merchandise.

Greg Wilson, owner of the Clothesline Discount Clothing Outlet says the donation really was a win-win for both parties after the Shubenacadie location of his business closed.

“It worked well for both of us, she could really benefit from the donation and for us, it saved us a lot in transportation costs,” he said.

Because Barr knows there wasn’t enough room in her store and to share the wealth of the donation, she has decided to give parts of the donations to other places.

“I took some hats, mittens and jackets to the school in Indian Brook,” she said.

And, a recent natural disaster has seen Barr prepare to reach out internationally as well.

“We are starting to get it organized and make contacts in Haiti to donate things to them,” she said. “We have boxes with 200 flip flops and we know we won’t need all of what we have.”

Knowing she would make the best of her donation, Wilson says Barr’s giving spirit was one of the reasons he decided to make the donation to Manna House.

“Not only was it the most local store, but she is a terrific person,” he said.

Barr says when the inventory was brought from the Clothesline to Manna House, the sheer size of the donation really dawned on her.

“It was a little overwhelming,” she admitted. “But we had a lot of help from the community to get it all in.”

acameron@enfieldweeklypress.com