Peace Arch Hospice Society Thrift Store operates out of a storefront at 15562 24th Avenue in Surrey, British Columbia, in the South Surrey neighborhood that borders White Rock along the Semiahmoo Peninsula. Every dollar the store brings in supports Peace Arch Hospice Society’s free palliative and grief support programs, which serve residents throughout South Surrey and White Rock facing end of life care and bereavement. Unlike thrift stores tied to a single narrow cause, hospice funding touches an unusually wide range of local families, since palliative and grief services reach people across every age group and background at some of the hardest moments of their lives.
The store restocks with new merchandise daily, drawing on a steady stream of community donations that keep the displays changing week to week, and it accepts drop-offs Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with no appointment required, making it simple for South Surrey residents to pass along household items and clothing whenever it suits their schedule. Shopping hours run slightly longer, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the store closed on Sundays and statutory holidays. A downloadable list of acceptable and non-acceptable donations helps donors sort what they bring in before they arrive, cutting down on wasted trips for items the store cannot resell.
What distinguishes this thrift store most is the volunteer force behind it. More than 100 active volunteers keep the shop running, an unusually large number for a single storefront and a sign of how deeply the surrounding community has invested in hospice care as a cause worth showing up for. Peace Arch Hospice Society frames its work around the idea that hospice is fundamentally about living well in the time that remains, not simply managing decline, and the thrift store carries that same spirit into its retail floor, positioning itself as a genuinely pleasant place to browse rather than a somber fundraising obligation.
For shoppers, that means racks and shelves stocked with the kind of everyday variety typical of a well supported community thrift store, refreshed constantly enough that regular visits tend to turn up something new. For donors, it means a straightforward, low friction way to give household goods a second life while funding services that many South Surrey and White Rock families will eventually rely on themselves. The volunteer base also gives the community multiple ways to get involved beyond shopping and donating, since the Society actively recruits new volunteers to keep the store staffed and welcoming.
Because the thrift store’s entire purpose is to fund the hospice society’s free grief and palliative support programs, every purchase functions as a small, direct contribution to end of life care in the local community, something few ordinary retail transactions can claim. Peace Arch Hospice Society Thrift Store is Surrey’s volunteer powered secondhand shop on 24th Avenue, where daily donations and everyday purchases directly fund free palliative and grief support for South Surrey and White Rock families.
