RFBI Moonbi Masonic Village pop-up shop leaves shoppers clamouring for more

"We opened at 8am and by 8.30am we had more than 50 people in the one building," RFBI Moonbi Masonic Village's Lifestyle and Leisure team member Sharon Carpenter said.

The pop-up shop, where every item was on sale for just $1, blew past its goal of raising $500 only two hours after opening, with many shoppers returning to donate extra books and clothes after seeing how quickly items were flying off the shelves.

"It was kind of a trial for us, and we just got swamped. It was amazing. By the end of the day we had $705," Ms Carpenter said.

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The funds raised will go towards the RFBI's (Royal Freemasons' Benevolent Institution) Benevolence Program, which has provided more than $13 million over the last 10 years to assisting individuals and families in times of need, directly donated with zero administrative costs deducted.

Though most RFBI villages do a fundraiser for the program once per year, Ms Carpenter said the popularity of the inaugural event has inspired plans for an encore much sooner than that.

"People don't want to wait that long, they're all into me for the next date already, so we're looking at the start of February, after everyone recovers from Christmas," she said.

She said proceeds from the next pop-up shop will likely go directly into providing more social and recreational events for the residents of the retirement village.

"We're going to have to do a further reach next time, put it out to the whole community, and make sure we have a place to store and organise everything," Ms Carpenter said.

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