Dorothy Arata and her colleagues at Community Projects are modern-day miracle workers.

From old clothes, they have made children’s playgrounds. Garden supplies have grown into airplane tickets carrying local high school singers to performances in Europe. Books, kitchen utensils and costume jewelry have begotten new computers, instructional materials and hundreds of thousands of dollars in college scholarships for Napa Valley students.

Next weekend, the thrift store mavens put on their most popular event of the year, a Treasures of Christmas Past sale full of holiday items.

Community Projects collects donated goods through the year. All during that time, Arata said, “We set aside our better Christmas items and all of our fine silver.” These goods, as well as fine linens, cards, homemade delicacies and other holiday supplies form the heart of the special one-day sale.

A group of more than 120 women take turns staffing Community Projects‘ downtown shop, requiring only a handful of paid workers to help run a charity that has been in place since 1941.

In that time Community Projects has given away more than $8 million in proceeds to schools and charities that apply and are approved for funds. The list of recipients covers the gamut of Napa County youth and charitable causes: Sea Scouts, Grad Night, Hospice of Napa Valley, Napa Valley Special Olympics, Rianda House, Aldea Children and Family Services, the Napa Valley Youth Symphony and so on.

In 2008, Community Projects made donations of between $2,000 and $20,000 to 32 local organizations, and set aside another $69,000 for scholarships.

As special as that may be, it is not as special to Arata, the president of the organization, as is the camaraderie and hard work among the women who make it all happen.

“I get all choked up,” Arata said — clearly all choked up — on the phone last week. “These women work so hard. These women are unbelievable. This is not a social organization, they really get down and work.”

Mary Parker, like Arata, a member of the Community Projects board, said that in addition to hours, sorting, shelving, pricing and selling goods, the members are expected to attend several meetings a year about the direction of the organization. Each month the board of directors screens requests and approves donations to different groups. Parker said the holiday tresure sale offers “the best of the best” of the materials the organization sees.

Arata’s ties to Community Projects goes way back. Her mother, Laura Gould, was a Community Projects volunteer, and Arata was in the “auxiliary,” volunteering in partnership with Community Projects at Queen of the Valley Medical Center.

That was 45 years ago. She has been involved ever since, working the now-defunct Fancy Faire at the Napa Valley Expo; serving twice as president; and helping sort a never-ending supply of secondhand goods donated by residents.

“If you were there for even one day,” said Arata, “you wouldn’t believe how much comes in and we sort.”

“When you think about 100-plus women working together, and have things work out, it is pretty amazing, said Arata. “I really love volunteering. I’ve volunteered all my life.”