The Chapel Hill – Carrboro PTA Thrift Shop has announced, beginning November 15, the non-profit will change its name to CommunityWorx.

Chapel Hill – Carrboro PTA Thrift Shop name change announced.

The name of the thrift shop has been under scrutiny in recent years as local PTAs, with the help of the national PTA organization, have been pushing for the name change. The PTAs argued using PTA as part of the thrift shop name was no longer appropriate as donations from the thrift shop to the local PTAs declined in recent years.

The thrift shop operation has expanded to a new facility recently and added other youth-serving missions to its campus operations.

“The new brand emphasizes a commitment to strengthening partnerships with those actively working to close racial and economic opportunity gaps on behalf of Chapel Hill – Carrboro students and families,” thrift shop officials said in a release announcing the name change.

The new name was unveiled at the 2019 State of the Community Report Thursday hosted by The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill – Carrboro.

CommunityWorx president and CEO Barbara Jessie-Black said the new name is a progression of the organization’s sustainability plan, which was developed in 2010.

“The [2007-2009] recession was a wakeup call. We were lucky to make it through. It was clear that our dependency on the retail revenue alone would be problematic if ever there were another economic downturn. As an almost 60-year-old organization, it was time to evaluate our business model and investigate additional revenue opportunities to remain sustainable long-term.”

A public ceremony will be held November 15 at the facility on West Main Street in Carrboro to unveil the official name change.

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