A peek inside Winnipeg’s Boutique Unique

Maracas, chain mail amid thrift shop donations Jon Hendricks shows some of the unique donations given to a second-hand store in support of Centre Flavie.

A Winnipeg charity has come up with a unique way to help people in need while finding homes for items that might be on the shelves for a long time.

Each day, dozens of individual items are dropped off at Centre Flavie. The St. Boniface charity gets a lot of clothing, furniture and other household items, and then gives them away free of charge to thousands of vulnerable and working poor Manitobans each year.

"Last year alone we gave away 2,500 sofas, just sofas! About 2,300 beds," said Centre Flavie executive director Gilbert Vielfaure.

However, not every item can be given away so easily. Therefore, hundreds and hundreds of quirky items are instead brought to a room they call the Boutique Unique.

"I've seen everything here. Everything you can imagine," said Vielfaure. "Ponytails to used dentures. It's unbelievable what we've received."

There is a fleet of wooden ships, and cups to wet your lips. They have mugs of different sizes, wooden clogs and an old fondue set.

They even have some medieval chainmail.

"It's heavy, and it's real," said Vielfaure. "You don't want to walk near a magnet with this thing on for sure."

Centre Flavie has begun selling off items from the Boutique Unique each month in an online auction.

They're pulling in $8,000 to $10,000 per month, which is all used to help defray the costs of giving away all the other items they get.

The next auction is set for February 5th. You can get more details at the store's official website.