We are big on doing things for our community.
We do whatever we can to consignors, shoppers, and Town of Strathmore residents.
Why?
Because this world is pretty dark. If we can bring some light and kindness to the world, even just a little bit, we will.
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Here are some of the things we do for our community.
Beginning in 2024, we collected Prom Dresses from community members and sold them at a gala. Each clean dress was priced affordably, and the event was a huge success! We look forward to making it a regular event.
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Annual Free Bike Program
Working with Joker Bicycle Co, we collect broken bikes from local residents during the months of April-June and Jake fixes them up and we give them away for free.
2024 is the 4th year we've done this, and every year it gets bigger and better!
Free Baby Formula Library
Customers and new mothers began bringing us unused baby formula, and we started putting it out for other new mothers to come and get - all for free! We also give away the formula cheques new mothers get in the mail, and other gift certificates we have. Keep checking in for updates!
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Christmas Fundraiser
Since 2019, we have accepted gift & monetary donations to provide Christmas gifts to families in need. In 2019, it was just one family. In 2020, we gifted 16 families, in 2021 we gifted more families, 2022 we worked with Siksika Nation to help families living on the Reserve, and in 2023 we filled 23 backpacks for families living in the Shelters at Christmas.
Siksika Outreach School
Many of consigned items are not deemed sellable by Lil Hoots standards and are therefore put in the donation bin. Furthermore, many items that do not sell at Lil Hoots are then put into our donation bin. This donation bin is then brought out to Siksika Outreach Centre (sometimes up to 60 large blue recycle bags) where they are organized and given out to local residents who are in need of clothing. Everything from footwear, winter gear, shirts, pants, sweaters, etc. for ages newborn to adult XXL. When the “garage sale” (not a sale – everything is free) happens, nothing is left. We currently drive the donation bags to Siksika ourselves. We are extremely proud of our relationship with Siksika, and have an Every Child matters sign in our front window.
Donation Account
At Lil Hoots, we have a donation account. When people bring clothing, toys, or any item at all to the store to “sell on donation,” we tag them using the Donation account. Also, when items expire the 90-day consignment policy, we re-tag them into the Donation account. What does this mean? We create a store scan tag and sell the donated item for the regular price of what they would be on consignment, and that money goes into the Donation account when it sells. Then, when someone from the Shelter comes in, or a member of our community who vocalizes to us how difficult their financial situation is, we can complete their purchase using the Donation account. This donation account is only allowed to be used on Consignment items (not new items!) and has blessed soooooo many people in our community. It’s one of my favourite things we do in the store.
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My 13-year-old was having a difficult time making friends at her school, and one of the reasons was that she was obsessed with Anime and none of her classmates were into Anime. So, I created an Anime Club in town for kids 12-15 (although we’ve had kids as young as 8 attend!). They meet at Lil Hoots on one Thursday night a month, and they just sit around, talking Anime, doing crafts, watching movies, drawing Anime characters, etc. I sit with them for the 2-hour meet, and the other parents can leave and then come back for pickup. We are planning a movie night at the local theatre, we are planning a trip to Otafest (an Anime festival in Calgary) and encourage them to dress in cosplay, as they feel free to do so with a group of like-minded kids. My daughter has since made a BFF in the club and looks forward to each meeting.
I wanted a central space to know where the best holiday (Halloween and Christmas) light displays were in town, so I created a Facebook page for it. People send us their favourite home addresses, haunted houses, best-lit Christmas houses, etc and we create a map. We have the map available for a Friday evening in late October or mid-December, and people drive around Strathmore looking at the best displays. It makes it much easier to find the best houses than driving around aimlessly! We also began a BINGO sheet to find little “best of” items at all the houses to keep kids entertained. It’s a phenomenal program that I am sooo honoured to do for the town.
LGBTQ+ Friendly
We have reorganized our Teen section (named Teen Hoots) to be Gender Neutral, as we had many gender-conforming youths coming into the store and feeling confused on where to look for clothing. So, all of the older teen and adult clothing we get on Consignment is tagged as Gender Neutral. There is no judgement or criticism here at Lil Hoots and we will welcome you to dress any way you feel comfortable dressing. We also have an “Every One is Welcome Here” sign in our front window and strive to make everyone feel welcome. I have been accused of Child Sexual Exploitation due to my support of the LGBTQ+ community and will continue to fight for them regardless.
Feeding the Local Cats
So there’s a lot of cats that just roam around downtown Strathmore. They’ve become regulars at Lil Hoots. We have an outdoor cat house, a heated water dish, cat food (regularly supplied to us by Happy Cat Sanctuary) and have named the local cats. They are well taken care of by Lil Hoots and we love how needy and loving these ridiculous animals are. They’re also friends with the local magpies, who they invite to come for scraps as well. We have roughly 5 cats we feed regularly, but one who is a constant mooch.
2024 is the 4th year we've done this, and every year it gets bigger and better!
Work Experience with PDD & FAIM
For the past 5 years, we have welcomed local PDD and FAIM students (adults with developmental disabilities in the community) for job experience. We give them small jobs in the store, like organizing Teddy Mountain or putting clothes away or updating our website. The store does not pay them with money, however we offer them free goodies as a thank you for their hard work. They come every Monday with their Aide and we have developed quite the report with them.
In 2013, I started Munchkins Soccer program, a FREE soccer program for local kids. It was parent-led (which is very similar to the paid-for soccer program in town), and volunteer-based (again, similar to the paid-for soccer program). We offered coaches booklets for organizing practices, and we held it twice a week for all of June and July. I ran the program, with up to 800 kids taking part every year, until last year when I handed it off to another local mom, who took control of itm.
The Get to Know Your Neighbour Festival
In 2014, Denise went to downtown businesses in Strathmore about advertising in her local publication The Newsy Neighbour, only to be told that many of the downtown businesses couldn’t afford to advertise because the support from Strathmore residents was very low. So, she contacted her business partner (Aleesha) and suggested the Get to Know Your Neighbour Festival, bringing over 10k people to downtown Strathmore in its first year. The festival was one day, focusing on bringing people to downtown Strathmore, going into each business, and checking out local vendors on the street. They ran the festival for 4 years, ending when Covid took place. The Newsy Neighbour, Denise and Aleesha made zero dollars from this festival and organized it essentially voluntarily.
Best in Business Awards
Also in 2014, Denise and Aleesha took it upon themselves to organize the Best in Business Awards, again through The Newsy Neighbour publication. While the event was a zero-dollar making event, it was essential in showcasing local businesses and giving them some of the credit they deserved. The Awards were about voting for your favourite local business, and votes were what determined the winner. The Awards lasted for 5 years, until they handed the awards to the Strathmore Chamber of Commerce, who had more manpower due to so much work being put into the awards.
I started a Strathmore Business Directory with a business card to hand out for people who walk around and ask for “where can I shop for [this]?” For example, someone can ask “where can you buy women’s clothing in town?” send them to the Business Directory website and under Womens Clothing there’s a list of local businesses who have chosen to take part. Each business is vetted to be sure to have a local license, and was done on my own free time. We did have a cost for this, however that price only covered the purchase of the secondary website link.
Christmas Fundraiser
We sell local author books in the store! I don’t really know what else to say about it, but I’m pretty proud of it and very honoured they utilize me for this opportunity. We only accept kids books and the seller must be local!