HeartStrings Gift Shop, located on the ground floor of Bradford Regional Medical Center, is more than just a cute place to find adorable nicknacks. It is the central hub of a vibrant community made of staff, patients and locals. And the business they do there supports a good cause.
The gift shop is overseen by the Bradford Hospital Auxiliary, established in 1932 by wives of local doctors and businessmen who wanted to support the hospital’s efforts. The first hospital gift shop opened its doors in 1952.
“All of the proceeds of our gift shop go to support the mission and vision of the hospital,” said Stephanie Huber, director of HeartStrings.
Huber, who has served in the auxiliary since 2013, is the gift shop’s only paid employee. The rest of the staffing positions are filled by volunteers – when they can be found.
“We run on volunteers for the rest of our staff and we are always looking for more,” Huber said.
“The majority of our volunteers are retired and they enjoy coming to work in a fun, light atmosphere – it is an all around good time.”
The gift shop is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Thursday. Huber would like to expand into Friday hours as well, but she needs more volunteers first to cover the extra hours.
The gift shop carries a wide variety of goods for the whole family, including Carson wind chimes, Lemon Tree cards and handcrafted Silver Forest earrings. They have a selection of candles and handmade gift cards, including hand-quilled cards that leap off the page.
For those looking for a sweet treat, Heartstrings offers eight different flavors of Hersey’s ice cream, including milkshakes and sundaes. They are also one of the only local distributors to carry Green Mountain coffee.
“We try to be unique and bring in carefully curated items that not everyone else has,” Huber said.
“We have found it is good to have that diversity to attract as wide of an audience as possible.”
The folks at HeartStrings hold various activities throughout the year to help foster a sense of shared culture among hospital staff and locals. For example, in the past they have given out scratch-off tickets with each purchase. Winners received small prizes like a free milkshake.
“We are always looking for ways to engage our employees and community in that way,” Huber said. “We want to sustain healthcare in this area so we really are striving to up our game as a gift shop.”
Money from HeartStrings also helps to fund the four local scholarships annually awarded by the auxiliary. There are two $500 nursing scholarships, and two $500 radiology scholarships, Huber explained.
“We want to bring the community into the hospital not just for healthcare, and not just to shop, but to create a sense of partnership in our local area however we can,” Huber said.
For Huber, that sense of community is what keeps her engaged and happy to return to work each day.
“I am so lucky to be surrounded by the volunteers and administration team that we have here,” Huber said. “They inspire me every day to create my vision and follow it – they have been very supportive and encouraging.”