Because this is the Keep Wimberley Beautiful (KWB) column, you may wonder how KWB gets the money to fund all its projects. They award grants for beautification projects such as the kiosk up on Hilltop Park on RR 12, planting seeds on roadsides and school grounds, decorations around town, refurbishing Welcome to Wimberley signs, refurbishing Martha Knies Park, some Emily Ann plantings, funding various trash and recycle receptacles and so much more.
You do not regularly see fundraisers for KWB, but yet they have all these activities. The reason is because they have volunteers who work at the Village
Thrift store. Money made by the Village Thrift Store on River Road is divided up between the organizations that make up the volunteers in accordance with the number of hours they put in each month. When you shop there or bring in donations you are helping KWB, Emily Ann, PAWS, Habitat for Humanities and the Wimberley Players.
The Village Store was first registered on June 5, 2002. Hence, it will soon celebrate its 20th anniversary. When the store was first incorporated the founding leaders were President Martha Knies, Vice President Toni Cook, Secretary Marilyn Trent, and Directors Charlie Fleming, Mickey M. Trent, and Wayne Crawford. The store started out in an older building on River Rd and then was moved to its current location when the new store was built. Watch for the 20th anniversary celebration sales in early June.
Written by Jackie Mattice, Hays County Master Naturalist
