Being in the store every day as store manager, Missy Hamilton-Smith has the opportunity to hear some amazing stories that help inspire her and the volunteers. Here are just a couple of those stories.
Last week I took a call from a lady curious about our pricing. After briefly explaining our pricing system she told me her story. She is a mother of a young child, is expecting twins, is on welfare and bedridden. She is not able to get out much to shop for her family. She has recently been to other thrift stores looking for clothes for her child and was humbled to admit she could not afford their prices. Before venturing out again she wanted to see what we had to offer. After telling her what some of our kids clothes cost she was so grateful and thanked me for allowing her the ability to be a good Mom and provide clothing for her children.
After telling that story to our volunteers one of them told me about something else that happed at the Sharestuff register. After they were done checking a lady out she wanted to let them know that she was so grateful, not only for our prices, but for how much effort and respect went into making the store feel good to shop for the needy. She then told the cashier that she has been driving all her stuff up to Janesville, Wisconsin for the last year because she felt bad giving it to some of the other thrift stores. She wasn’t comfortable charging people for her stuff and felt that other stores were overpriced. She had heard about Sharestuff and decided to check it out. She feels great about giving her stuff here now. Not only does it save her gas but also she says it feels like the right thing to do.
My fiance, mom and I went to Sharestuff to look for some summer clothes and to show my mom what we had helped with when we volunteered in the sort. My mom ended up wandering over by the section with appliances and knick-knacks and we found something that we had been looking all over for, vases for the centerpieces at our wedding! That isn't something that we had planned for that day, but we had already experienced so much frustration looking for vases for one day because of their price at most retail stores. At Sharestuff we found the exact vases we had been looking for at a price we could afford and were able to buy half of what we need on one day! It was not just a surprise but a blessing! -Charlotte
There are dozens more stories just like these and we will pass them along soon.
