First & Second Thrift Store payout tops $60,000

One of the 33 nonprofit groups to receive a check from the First & Second Thrift Store was the Sawtooth Elementary Student Council. Members of the student council from L-R: Ogima Currie, Ray Dressely, Taya Fairbanks, I.S.D. 166 Assistant Principal Bill DeWitt and Senior Center Director Bev Green.

“This has been an exciting year,” said Cook County Senior Center Director Bev Green as she addressed a roomful of people who attended the First & Second Thrift Store Payout Party on February 8.

Thirty-three Cook County nonprofits received a total of $60,159.69 from 2016 sales at First & Second, which is run by volunteers.

Since June 1, 2007, First & Second Thrift Store has generated $431,167.58, and all of it has gone back to the community.

While the turnout to receive individual checks was high this year, not everyone could make it to the Senior Center at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

“Some people are dealing with health issues, and one person was stuck in their driveway and couldn’t make it,” said Green.

Nonetheless, that absence didn’t deter the good mood as Green called the names of the organizations and handed out checks to their representatives.

From 2007 to 2016, 799 volunteers put in 36,919 hours at the store. Not all volunteers are seen. Some work on days when the store is closed and help take in items that were donated and some help pack items that can’t be sold and are sent to Goodwill.

Accepting a check (from Bev Green) for Great Expectations Charter School was Jerry Starr, Clara Weitz, Bev Green, and Nina Simonowicz.

Last year there were 75 folks who gave of their free time to cover the times the store is open. Had they been paid, their average hourly wage would have been $13.75 per hour.

Green said 2016 was down from 2015 when $73,088 was raised. But, said Green, two factors possibly contributed to the decline. “I think the weather was worse this past year (when the store was open) than in 2015, and the Canadian dollar didn’t have as much value in 2016 as it has in the past.”

At meeting’s end, Green thanked everyone for coming and pointed out that there was cake and coffee on hand. As people milled about Green reflected, “One of the reasons the thrift store has continued to do so well is because we have lots of great volunteers and we have received lots of donations and gotten some real quality stuff. I think that shows up in our sales.”

Among top recipients at the payout party were: