If thrifting for a good cause is up your alley, Nvrlnd. arts foundation is the place to be this weekend.

Garam Glam, a non-profit organization founded by a University of Calgary Student, was created to fight warmth inequality during Calgary’s frigid winters. Now, as the weather is breaking, the organization is hosting its first pay-what-you-can thrift market.

The market, hosted at Nvrlnd. arts foundation, will run April 4-5 and be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.

Aan Chahal, Garam Glam founder and second-year UCalgary Bachelor of Science Exercise and Health Physiology student, said that hosting a market has been in the works for some time. 

“We’ve always had the idea to do a market, especially something that’s not on (UCalgary) campus,” she said.

“I find that when we host events on campus, it’s all students. I really want to expand our reach beyond just university students.”

The upcycled nature of thrifting fits in well with the organization’s values, Chahal said. The for-profit model of most thrift stores, however, does not.

“All of the clothes that we got were donated, so it feels a little bit wrong to try and take something that was donated and put a price tag on it when our whole mission is about accessibility and catering to those who might be less fortunate,” she told LWC.

“Who am I to decide what this is worth to you?”

Many events that advertise as pay-what-you-can often have a suggested price associated with each item. Chahal said that the Garam Glam thrift sale will have no suggestion or judgment when it comes to pricing.

“You can totally take whatever you’d like and drop a dime on the counter and we’d be happy,” she said.

“At the end of the day, our whole mission is to make not only the fundamentals like clothing, but also beauty and self-care accessible to everyone.”

The clothes that will be up for grabs during the market are all donated from various sources. Come Sunday evening, whatever goes unsold will be brought to Plato’s Closet. All proceeds will be going towards Garam Glam’s signature warmth kits, which contain warm gloves, light gloves for layering, wool socks, hand lotion, and lip balm and are donated across the city.

First-hand exposure to Calgary’s harsh winters

So far, Garam Glam has raised more than $11,000, which has been directly reinvested into providing warmth resources, care packages and education for women and children facing housing insecurity, according to a Garam Glam-issued statement.

Through selling nail kits and using proceeds to create and donate warmth kits with Garam Glam, Chahal has learned a lot about the realities faced by many Calgarians.

“When you come as a group (to a homeless shelter), whether that’s you and your friend or you and your partner or you and your kid, they often don’t allow groups because it’s more people that they have to keep together,” she said, adding that individuals often get faster admittance into shelters.

“A lot of the time, the reason that these women and kids are unhoused or facing housing insecurity is because they are leaving domestic violence situations. Coming from that kind of background and going back into very close quarters, which is shared with  men, women, everyone, it can be really daunting and really scary.”

Many people would rather spend the night sleeping in a public washroom rather than a homeless shelter because of the fear that whatever they were escaping is going to follow them into the shelter, Chahal said.

Even if they aren’t able to attend the event, Chahal hopes people are able to see that a lot of the time, creating an impact is easier than they may think.

“Think of how many people are going to go thrifting this weekend and go to somewhere like Value Village or Goodwill or Salvation Army. They’re probably going to have the same luck at our sale, or even better, because all of our pieces are curated,” she said.

“You really don’t have to go too much out of your way in order to create impact in your community, even as a young person.”

After this weekend, Garam Glam will shift its sights to late spring.

“At the end of May, we’re hosting our Garam Glow Night Market. Right now, we have about 60 vendors lined up and three live performers,” she said.

“The cool thing is all of these vendors and all of the performers that we have are donating a portion of what they make to our nonprofit. One of our staff, she’s been a bartender for years and she made a custom drink menu, and 100 per cent of the profit from our food and drink is also going to go towards our efforts.”