By: Brooke Turbyfill

The Greenville, South Carolina, Women's Auxiliary – only in existence for one year – has come up with an innovative fundraising idea that could easily "pop up" anywhere.
The Greenville Auxiliary Attic Pop-Up Shop began to take shape when the auxiliary members donated gently used, high-end items such as clothing, purses, furniture and home décor last fall. Those items are then sold in a shop that can be assembled anywhere, in this case, the Greenville Corps.

Major Melody Davis, corps officer, said the sale – which took place in October – was first extended to invitation-only pre-sale shoppers on Friday, Oct. 3, where shoppers had the opportunity to win door prizes, and an auxiliary emcee featured a special item every 15 minutes. Pre-sale shoppers dined on appetizers and shopped their way through the pop-up boutique.

The following day, the pop-up shop was open to the public. As the main fall fundraising event that the auxiliary does, Major Davis said it "was a lot of fun and a great success," one that they plan to duplicate – and expand – in 2016.

During the weekend of September 30th, the auxiliary boutique will pop up again with more items and a vendor fair to expand what is sold. All proceeds from the annual fund-raiser go toward The Salvation Army's Women and Children Refuge in Greenville. "It is our goal to supply support, in a variety of ways, to each ministry that our area command has," said Sarah Byars, women's auxiliary president.

For more information on pop-up shops, contact Major Melody Davis at Melody.Davis@uss.salvationarmy.org