September 11, 2025
Provided Image/Kelly Burkhardt
Philly AIDS Thrift is hosting a block party Saturday to celebrate its 20th anniversary and mark reaching $5 million in donations to HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations over the years. .
Philly AIDS Thrift, the eccentric nonprofit/thrift shop in Queen Village, will be throwing a block party Saturday to celebrate its 20th anniversary and mark reaching $5 million in donations to HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations over the years.
In 2005, Philly AIDS Thrift was a tiny, unpainted space that had no heat — unrecognizable to the three-story behemoth of a store that stands today, executive director and co-founder Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou said.
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Kallas-Saritsoglou and her now-retired business partner, Tom Brennan, bonded over their love of collectible items and advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. They worked together at different retailers and nonprofits throughout the 1990s and early 2000s before deciding to combine their shared passions into a space on Bainbridge Street, staffed by just the two co-owners.
"We got together and begged our friends to donate things from their apartments, and we brought things from our own apartments at that time," she said. "I was just holding on to hope every day that we were going to make it. ... Gradually, people started shopping and donating and it was really booming."
Six years later, the group moved to its current location at 710 S. 5th St., a former furniture show store, and have steadily increased their workforce over the years, now employing 30 paid workers and around 60 volunteers.
"We attract creative people," Kallas-Saritsoglou said of the shop's employees. "It's just a vibrant place that feels very alive. We strive to make this an extremely safe, diverse place where people feel like they're seen and they belong."
Philly AIDS Thrift may have changed spaces over the past 20 years, but its mission never wavered. In addition to sending a portion of its proceeds toward grants and donations to organizations focused on HIV/AIDS awareness and treatment, it has set up an HIV testing center in the store and provides no-charge store vouchers to local HIV/AIDS service providers. In 2014, it acquired Giovanni's Room, the nation's longest-running LGBTQ+ bookstore.
"We had friends who were living with the disease, who died from the disease," Kallas-Saritsoglou said. "Especially at a young age, that's a pretty traumatic thing. ... If somebody would have said [20 years ago], 'Someday you're going to donate $5 million,' I would have laughed ... but I want to keep going. I want us to continue until this thing is completely eradicated."
Philly AIDS Thrift is hosting a block party to celebrate its 19th anniversary. Above is a photo from last year.
On Saturday, Philly AIDS Thrift will take over the 700 block of South 5th Street between Bainbridge and Monroe streets from noon to 6 p.m. for its 11th annual fundraiser, featuring live music, circus entertainers, food and retail vendors, a pie-eating contest, dunk tank and more.
Proceeds will help support local organizations like the Attic Youth Center, Mazzoni Center, MANNA, William Way LGBT Community Center and Planned Parenthood.
"The fact that it's been 20 years is absolutely incredible," Kallas-Saritsoglou said. "To think about myself back then when we were lugging stuff from our apartments, trying to paint the store. ... My mind is just blown. I don't know where else it'll take us, but I'm just excited for the future and all that we can do. Who knows what else is out there?"
