LIV DURBAN has added a new thrift store to its stable at the Cornubia Shopping Mall.

Although only a pop-up at this stage, Jan George Blignaut, who is part of the leadership team, said the organisation is calling on the community to support the new store.

“There are two other stores: one at Glenore Centre in Glenashley, which has a coffee shop and café, and the other at Spade in Durban North. Having the new store at Cornubia means LIV is more accessible to residents who live in areas farther north of Durban. It is also the closest large mall to the LIV Durban site,” he said.

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LIV, which is an acronym for Lungisisa Indlela Village, meaning ‘The Right Way’ or ‘Prepare the Way’, is the vision of Tich and Joan Smith, who, in 1997, were told by Jesus to start a village and take care of orphaned and vulnerable children. The first mothers and children moved into the village in August 2011.

Fast forward more than a decade later, and LIV has grown into a hollistic village taking care of hundreds of children in Cottonlands.

The twelve-cluster establishment has children living in a home with a foster mom.

The village is comprised of healthcare facilities and a school from early childhood development up to Grade 12, provides work opportunities, a church, recreational activities and much more.

Blignaut left his full-time job as a chartered accountant and being in a ministry and joined LIV while on a sabbatical about six years ago.

“The plan was for my wife and I to stay for two years, but I felt the need to stay longer. Two years ago, the opportunity to get more involved in the overall sustainability of the village came about and I moved over to LIV Invest from where we run the thrift stores” he said.

Blignaut said LIV stores don’t only stock good quality pre-owned clothes but brand new items, too – some of which are name brands.

“We have a good relationship with some major corporate clothing retailers, and we continue to try and build new relationships. Our stores receive stock quality clothes at great prices on a regular basis. We also have a good range of Kookaburra sporting goods which are very popular, too,” he said.

Due to the influx of donations, LIV had to open a warehouse to sort through the stock that comes in. They supply the children at the village with clothes, supply the thrift stores with quality items and also provide clothing bundles to ladies in communities to gain an income for them and their families.

Here, volunteers, as well as some of the youngsters who have finished matric and are looking to gain work experience, assist with the logistics.

“Some of the children from the village need work experience and to gain a skill set so we employ them at the warehouse or at the stores to gain the skills they need. Our slogan is ‘Rescue a child. Restore a life. Raise a leader. Release a star.’ And that’s what we work towards,” he said.

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Before the thrift stores were opened, a fully fledged factory existed in the village. This factory is still in operation but on a much smaller scale, and work is commissioned only via pre-order.

“The ladies sew up items made from shweshwe, such as aprons, table runners and the like. We also take orders for corporates, depending on the quantity,” said Blignaut.

Support the LIV store at Cornubia Shopping Mall (near Woolworths). The store is open Monday to Saturday from 9.00 to 17:00 and Sundays 9.00 to 15.00.

If you would like to donate pre-owned items, there are donation bins at the Glenore store which fill up almost daily. Sports equipment, clothes, books, toys, jewellery and the like are welcome. For larger items such as furniture, pick up can be arranged by emailing store1@liv-village.com

For more information, visit www.liv-village.com.

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