Entraide Mercier

Entraide Mercier has spent four decades serving the small Monteregie community of Mercier, Quebec, marking its fortieth anniversary milestone in 2025 as a fixture of the local shopping and social-support landscape. Based at 959 rue St-Joseph, the organization runs what it describes as the town’s community thrift store and a center for reusing goods still in good condition, selling secondhand clothing, household items, furniture, and children’s products at prices well below retail. Every purchase made in the store does double duty: shoppers get discounted goods while the proceeds fund a wider slate of community assistance programs the organization runs alongside its retail operation. That combination is central to how Entraide Mercier describes its own purpose, framing itself as both a community thrift store and a source of neighborhood support rather than a straightforward secondhand retailer. Beyond the shop floor, the organization provides emergency material assistance to households and families facing sudden hardship, helping connect people with furniture, clothing, or other essentials when they need them most urgently. It also supports local students through educational assistance and school supply donations, easing the financial pressure that back-to-school season can put on lower-income families, and it runs community work programs designed to help participants build skills and social connections through structured group activities. For seniors and others who have difficulty accessing regular meals, the organization operates a rolling meal delivery service, known locally as popote roulante, bringing prepared food directly to people who might otherwise struggle to cook for themselves. Entraide Mercier frames its retail side explicitly around sustainability, describing shopping there as a way to support sustainable development by keeping usable goods circulating in the community instead of sending them to a landfill, while simultaneously making household basics more affordable for shoppers on a budget. The organization draws support from a mix of public and private partners, including the Government of Quebec, the Desjardins cooperative movement, and the City of Mercier itself, a partnership structure that has evidently helped sustain four decades of continuous operation in a town of Mercier’s size. Community members can get involved with the organization in several different ways beyond simply shopping its racks and shelves: donating gently used items, volunteering time on-site, making direct financial contributions, or arranging corporate sponsorships are all listed as ways residents and local businesses can support the mission. That range of entry points reflects an organization that has built itself around the idea of community participation at every level, not just as a place people visit occasionally to find a deal. For a town the size of Mercier, having a single organization anchor both an affordable retail option and a genuine safety net of food, education, and material assistance programs represents a significant piece of local infrastructure, one that has clearly evolved and expanded over its forty years rather than remaining a simple donation bin operation. In short, Entraide Mercier is a four-decade-old Mercier, Quebec thrift store and community support organization offering affordable secondhand goods alongside food assistance, school supply support, and meal delivery for local residents in need.