FYI on DIYS in PHL: Philly AIDS Thrift

- by Dianca Potts

Philly AIDS Thrift amps up this weekend for their fifth anniversary bash. Kicking off on Friday, the celebration will have you dying to volunteer! 3 hour shifts searching for unique treasures while helping the greater good? Sounds rad to us…get inspired! Check out our convo with co-founder/manager Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou about hot meats, human skulls, and how it all began.

The Deli: Aids Thrift is one of Philly’s finest haunts for thrifters. Your involvement with Aids Thrift is pretty extensive. Tell us a little about how that all began.

Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou: Five years ago a couple friends and I opened the thrift store and wanted to use it as a way to help folks with HIV/AIDS. For decades, we've been AIDS activists, as well as die hard junkers. So, we felt that merging the two was a perfect way to make a difference in the community! We started by bringing personal "treasures" from our apartments trying to fill up the store...it snowballed and people just continued to donate. It's five years later and we still have never had to ask for a donation!

TD: Aside from being eclectically awesome, Aids Thrift is civically minded. How has your mission as a thrift store evolved over the years?

CK: Although our mission from the start has been to help people with HIV/AIDS, we have always and continue to serve a wide variety of communities. We try and provide clothing and housewares for those who are struggling or homeless. We do all we can to support the art, music and theater community, as well as the LGBT community at large. We love everyone!

TD: This weekend’s bash celebrates two major milestones for Aids Thrift. Give us some details on these milestones and how they’ve impacted you as a store and as an individual.

CK: We're celebrating our fifth year anniversary this weekend and in addition to that, we've also hit our $200,000 mark in proceeds we've given to local HIV/AIDS service organizations! We'll be providing delicious food, music, and kick ass sales for our customers Friday thru Sunday!

TD: Sounds awesome. Sales, cupcakes, and DJ K-Tell… Are there any other exciting surprises in store for attendees?

CK: Naked, fire breathing, stilt walking, puppet masters.... Just kiddin’. Stop by and find out…

TD: What’s the craziest thing someone's donated to the store? Do you happen to have any favorite memories when it comes to donations?

CK: Craziest, (a.k.a. coolest), a human skull...[and] no, we ain’t sellin’ it! Once someone donated a cannon ball from the Civil War...it rolled off the table onto our employee Adam's foot. After we were sure his foot wasn't broken, laughing at his pain was really funny.

TD: How have you seen Philadelphia change in the five years since Aids Thrift opened?

CK: We're located in the So-So district (south of South St.) and keeping it close to home, our block in particular has gone through some wonderful changes. There was hardly anything happening here five years ago. I feel like after we moved in and gained both sides of Bainbridge, the street is more alive. It's bursting with eclectic shops like Mostly Books: the amazingly huge used book store; Mike's: an antique/upholstery shop that puts it's furniture out on the sidewalk like us; Twist: a rockin’ hair salon, a Karate school and the deliciously trendy new restaurant Adsum.

TD: Some of the members of Dangerous Ponies volunteer at Aids Thrift, right? What’s it like to have up and coming indie artists working alongside Aids Thrift for a common cause?

CK: Ponyboy Brooks Banker started off as a volunteer, but has been an employee for over a year now. He's our ever fashionable Clothing Processor. Ponie's lead vocalist Chrissy volunteers her time with us occasionally, sorting through clothes and ringing up customers. We adore them both. We try and support one another as much as possible. We lovingly refer to them as our "House Band". They provide outstanding entertainment at our fund raisers etc...We promote them like crazy and try to get them plugged into events that will increase exposure. Working with people who are like-minded and a joy to be around is a rare thing. I love my job!

TD: Do you consider yourselves to be connected to the local Philly music scene?

CK: We ourselves are old school punks and our love for music permeates through the store. You'll hear tracks varying from Nick Cave to Journey, hardcore to world music, screamo to jazz and so on. Lots of local musicians shop here and try to give them space to promote upcoming shows and distribute flyers. We love the folks from R5 Productions, never miss setting our booth up at the Punk Rock Flea Market! We feature DJ's spinning in the store and reach out to local bands to play at our events. We'd love to be more engaged...throw us some contacts...let's collaborate NOW!

TD: What is Aids Thrift’s connection to DJ K-Tell?

CK: DJ K-Tell was a former volunteer of mine from another organization many moons ago. As long as he spins music...I will follow!

TD: You’re hosting a show in October, right?

CK: We'll be hosting a Dangerous Ponies CD Release party in our warehouse, Friday October 15th… the line up hasn't been finalized yet, but trust me, it's one gig you don't wanna miss!

TD: What do you like to order at the deli?

CK: Fresh Hot Meat (oh my)!