Help Good Neighbour Keep Going!

Good Neighbour is Calgary’s first pay what you want store. Started by a group of friends in 2021, the store provides clothing, hygiene items, and food to Calgarians, regardless of their ability to pay. We now support over 100 people per day and distribute the majority of our items for free to newcomers, low income individuals, unhoused folks, and seniors. In 2023, we distributed over 50,000 items of clothing, plus numerous hygiene and food items.

Good Neighbour is more than just a store, our space has become a hub for community building and activities! We have an artist space upstairs where we host classes and community events. Downstairs, we built a community clinic providing low cost services like community acupuncture, massage therapy and health education. We also opened a fundraiser thrift store, to directly support Good Neighbour and our programs. Over the last 3 years, we have built relationships with many of our customers and created an amazing network of volunteers and likeminded community members.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO KEEP GOING!

We were recently told that we have to vacate the entire building, leaving us to find space for both stores, the artist studios, programming and community clinic. Luckily, we are able to move to a temporary space in Chinatown to continue some of our work. This space will be our community hub, housing the fundraiser thrift store and the artist studios that will also be used for community programming and events. Instead of a storefront, Good Neighbour will become a pop-up program where we will bring Good Neighbour directly to folks using a van. We will pop-up at specific locations on a regular basis to ensure our customers can locate Good Neighbour.

The need for essential items like clothing, food, toiletries, and community connection is rising. Our operating expenses have risen as well as we continue to support more and more individuals and expand our programs, in addition to moving costs that we are now faced with. Funds raised through this Go Fund Me will support:

Our future is uncertain but we are so proud of what we've built and we want to keep going! Your support is greatly appreciated. You can also help by donating clean adult clothing and toiletries, and sharing our story. Below are some testimonials from our customers and volunteers:

"Good Neighbour helps my whole family. We don’t make enough money to buy basic needs some months. This is one of the only resources I know of that we can access."

"Staying outside, your clothes get wet and dirty and its hard to carry so much stuff so I come here to get new clothes. I've had a lot of loss, it's nice to come here and feel normal and actually be able to shop. I love this place, I love the people.”

"It’s the best thing to happen to me, and a lot of people. You meet good people, it’s more than just a thrift store. If someone has a problem, they know they can come here and be taken care of and build friendships”