Every Saturday morning, between 200 and 250 cars pull up to the loading dock to deliver items families no longer need. And every Friday and Saturday mornings, long lines of shoppers wait eagerly for the Kiwanis Thrift Sale doors to open, eager to find bargains.
“Thrifting isn’t just for college kids of newlyweds needing to furnish an apartment. It seems like a national pastime for many people,” said a harried thrift store cashier on a busy Friday morning.
A crew of 270 volunteers—not all of them Kiwanis members—receive and sort the donations, clean and merchandise them, test appliances and, if necessary, make small repairs. Tech-savvy volunteers dismantle outdated electronics for precious metals in their components—these will be sold and the remaining parts will be recycled. And shopping-savvy volunteers search websites for prices before items reach the massive sales floor or are offered online.
“Our goal is to offer our neighbors good bargains while earning money to Help Kids, Families, and Our Community—which is our club’s motto,” says Laura Koch, new executive director of Ann Arbor’s Kiwanis, headquartered on Jackson Road.
In an era when much broadcast news is dismal, Kiwanis has only good news to report—remarkably good news. Last year, the thrift store netted an astounding $2,154,622 in sales and provided $1,346,794 in cash grants, donations, and gifted goods to fifty nonprofit agencies, 110 community projects, and 722 needy individuals and families in Washtenaw County. “Those figures broke all our previous records,” Koch says.
The remaining sales proceeds supported the club’s activities, facilities’ upkeep, operations, community garden, major recycling efforts, and salaries for nine full-time and nine part-time staff members as they work together to transform an aging 129,000-square-foot warehouse into a community center.
To accomplish all this, Kiwanis members and volunteers provided 67,922 hours of community service—an increase of 12,663 hours over the previous year. “But that’s not the only impact we have. We are working hard to make sure everything we receive is either reused or recycled in creative ways,” Koch says. “The bedrock of both our club and foundation is our commitment to provide critically needed help in many ways to our neighbors here in Washtenaw County, and even farther afield.”
Kiwanis assistance takes many forms. Take a look at their contributions to Washtenaw families in just one year:
- Kiwanis provided $870,865 in cash grants to nonprofits and other community groups.
- The Gifted Goods Kiwanis Voucher Program provided $136,190 worth of clothing and household goods to needy families free of charge.
- Kiwanis provided an additional $339,739 worth of free merchandise to families and nonprofit agencies within the county. Members research creative ways to share or use items that can’t be sold, but still have use and value. One of many examples is the donation of unsellable linens and towels to the Huron Valley Humane Society.
- Kiwanis provided thirty-five Washtenaw Community College students with Finish Line Scholarships.
- Foundation grants of $531,149 supported 110 worthy organizations, while $75,163 supported more than thirty community service projects.
- Michigan’s children’s hospitals received $25,525, and the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital Child and Family Life Services received another $12,659.
- Kiwanis members packed 10,000 meals for the Kids Coalition Against Hunger, as well as providing meals for the Ronald McDonald House. Members also delivered Meals on Wheels for shut-ins.
- Kiwanis sent $13,648 for the Hurricane Helene Relief fund, $6,000 to the Haiti Nursing Foundation, and $5,000 to support summer healthcare services for 500 young children.
- Kiwanis covered the tuition for six Dexter-area students to attend the Michigan State Police Law Enforcement Academy last summer.
- Kiwanis also supports the Kiwanis Service Leadership Programs for the University of Michigan Circle K and Key Clubs in four local high schools.
But the community impact doesn’t stop there. “We have a strong commitment to Recycle, Reduce, Reuse,” Koch explains. “Our neighbors have a worthy place where they can recycle new or used items, while reducing waste and landfill deposits, then offering community members everything from household goods to art, clothing, everyday necessities, and specialty items they can reuse.”
But that’s not all of the club’s community outreach.
Kiwanis members work at blood drives, operate the annual A2Zero Green Fair and Trash Talk, ring bells for the Salvation Army, sponsor Project Grow, host holiday activities for neighbors suffering with dementia and their caregivers, sponsor the Warm the Children clothing initiative, run leadership programs, and volunteer with Dementia-Friendly Services.
“We’re proud of our achievements, but we’re not resting on them,” Koch says. “Our members and volunteers continue to find creative ways to use or recycle everything that comes
through our loading dock. We are here to serve our neighbors in this community in many ways.”
The Kiwanis Thrift Store is located at 100 N. Staebler Rd, Ann Arbor. For more information, visit https://kiwanissale.com/
Featured photo: Every Saturday morning, between 200 and 250 cars unload unwanted clothing and household items at the Kiwanis loading dock. The process is a well-oiled machine, taking no more than a few minutes. Courtesy of A2 Kiwanis
8123 Main St Suite 200 Dexter, MI 48130
