CLACC Spotlight: Old School Thrift Shop Volunteers

Volunteers Make Things Happen!

By Muriel Nelson

Whenever you visit the Old School Thrift Shop at the Clear Lake Area Community Center (CLACC), you find racks filled with all types of clothing and shelves amply stocked and well-organized with books, toys, dishes, and small appliances. You may even notice a nicely dressed mannequin or two.

None of this ‘just happens’. You see, the Old School Thrift Shop is staffed by a dedicated team of volunteers. The amazing group of women who does this work includes Candy, Carol, Leona, Maria, Nancy, Sue C. and Vicki with Sue A. and Phyllis as their leads. The co-leads started working at the shop right after the covid crisis and the rest of the team came along at various times since. Sue A. and Phyllis have led the way to making the thrift shop an enjoyable place  not only for the volunteers to work but also for customers to shop.

This small but efficient workforce has grouped their work into receiving and sorting, stocking the store, assisting customers and ‘miscellaneous’ tasks. Everyone sorts incoming donations on Mondays and moves what they can to the clothing racks and merchandise shelves. When the thrift shop is open on Fridays, the primary effort goes to greeting and assisting customers; even so, there is usually a core group sorting and restocking while the shop is open.

When I went to the shop to “interview” the team for this article, I was guided to the sorting area where Leona and Sue were surrounded by bags and boxes of recent donations. They were inspecting each item of clothing to ensure it was clean, not more than gently worn and ready for a clothes rack in the thrift shop. Donated items that don’t meet sorting standards are put aside to be sent on to Goodwill.  

When asked how she became a volunteer at the thrift shop, Sue C. said she was a ‘customer turned volunteer’. By that, she meant she had shopped at the store several times and one day was asked if she’d like to work there. She tried it out and has been volunteering there ever since.  That was a couple of years ago. Besides sorting donations, Sue also helps to stock the shop racks and shelves as well as at the cashier station when needed.

Leona, on the other hand, came to work at the thrift shop under somewhat different circumstances. The cookie baker that she is, she was trying to find a manual cookie press because she had worn out 3 motorized ones in a short time period! She mentioned her quandary to Candy while they were making lefse at their church.  Candy was already a thrift shop volunteer, so she directed Leona to the store where a cookie press had just been donated. Leona stopped by the thrift shop next time it was open…and became a volunteer while also buying the cookie press.

Leona assumed the “Toys Manager” position. That is, she checks out each toy, book and puzzle intended for kids. This dedicated volunteer takes many of these items to her “toy workshop”, also known as her garage, to make sure they work, are clean, have all their parts, or whatever is needed before placing them out for sale. She washes all stuffed toys too. Plus, Barbie dolls get a bit of a spa treatment; that is, they get a shampoo plus conditioner to make their hair ready for styling by their new owner. If you buy a toy at the thrift shop, you’ll be satisfied with the purchase because Leona is dedicated to making that happen.

Candy is another volunteer whose work is readily visible.  She uses her creative skills to display items including dishes, home decor, seasonal decorations and special collections at the thrift shop.  Candy is also the one who assembles the attractive mannequin-like displays throughout the store. When I was there, she was bringing out some lovely sets of dishes, perfect for a spring event and arranging them with complimentary table linens. Not to worry….even though we’ve had some snow, Candy is getting out the Easter decorations too. 

Carol has a section of the store that she manages also; it’s the book section that also houses DVDs and CDs. The turnover in this section is notable! Could it be because the shop sells most hardback books for a quarter and paperbacks for a dime? Somehow, Carol can tend to her fast-moving inventory.

Maria and Vicki also volunteer at the thrift shop although I didn’t meet with them. Even so, it’s a good bet that they also enjoy volunteering there. Vicki started about a month ago and because of her crafting and quilting background, she took on the sewing and yarn goods section to keep in good order. 

Nancy works as a cashier. She greets customers when they come in, answers their questions and bags up their purchases after “ringing up” the sale. She works part-time and still takes ample opportunity to get to know the regular customers.

To a volunteer, these women work at the thrift shop because they enjoy interacting with the customers as well as working with each other. Even though some may have a primary responsibility, they’re ready to help each other out, whatever the need.  

Full disclosure:  I have worked in the shop as a ‘fill-in’ over the past year and find it a great place to volunteer. Frankly, working at the thrift shop doesn’t seem like work! If you’d like to volunteer at the Old School Thrift Shop, contact CLACC at CLACC.org or on Facebook.

Special thanks to all who generously donate gently used goods to the CLACC Old School Thrift Shop. The thrift shop would not be possible without these donations.