Closet Founders Return to Their Creation

Source: The Connection Oak Hill / Herndon Newspaper

Fairfax County

By Mike DiCicco

Tuesday, October 20, 2009>

At 35, nonprofit thrift store honors its originators and humble beginnings.

When Janice Shanks came up with the idea of an ecumenical, nonprofit thrift store to serve Herndon, Reston and Sterling, there was only one store in the area where workers at the fledgling second-hand shop could send clients to get clothing items they didn’t have in stock. Having moved away 20 years ago, Shanks returned to Herndon on Saturday to find that the organization she had helped create had mushroomed with the town. As of 2008, the Closet, which turns 35 this year, had raised and given away about $2.4 million since its inception, not including the $60,000 worth of goods it gives away to needy families each year.

"My God, look at it. I can’t believe it," Shanks said. "You know how Edison must have felt when he pressed the button and the light bulb worked? That’s how I feel."

The occasion Saturday was the Closet Founders Dinner at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, where the idea for the thrift store was conceived. The meeting hall was packed with guests, including a number of local politicians.

"All year long we’ve been doing certain things to celebrate 35 years," said Aaron Sawyer, manager of the Closet. A formal ceremony was held in April, and last month there was a picnic. Now, the organization was celebrating the people who started it.

In the early 1970s, Shanks was serving a three-year term on St. Timothy’s vestry and was in charge of community outreach, she said. She figured that the poor in the community had three basic needs — food, shelter and clothing. There were already two strong food pantries in the area, "and I couldn’t do shelter. That was beyond me," she said. But there was little source for low-priced clothing. She talked her idea over with church members, and they decided to start a thrift store.

"So I wrote to every church in the phone book. If you were in the phone book, you got a letter," Shanks said. She asked each of them for volunteers and $100 for seed money. That was in April of 1973. The first board meeting was held that December.

The churches secured a space above the farm supply store known as Mrs. Dudding’s Hardware, located where there is now a parking lot across from the Herndon Depot. "The stairs were killers, though. They were very, very steep," Shanks said.

Joan Shelton, another founder in attendance at the dinner, speculated that years of carrying boxes up and down those stairs were the reason she had a bad back today. Shelton had belonged to First Baptist Church of Herndon until she, too, moved away 14 years ago.

The shop moved out of the hardware store and into a former bank, now the Great Harvest Bread Co., shortly before the first location ended up burning down, and it later relocated to the former home of a lumber company on Van Buren Street, which has since been demolished.

"It was to be nonprofit all along. We never dreamed it would be like this," Shelton said, noting that the founders had been surprised early on when the store started making money. "It was all to be under $1, and twice a year we were going to have a nickel sale and get rid of everything."

When money started coming in, Shanks said, organizers decided it should go back out to the community. The organization now provides $15,000 to $20,000 in scholarships each to Herndon and South Lakes high schools and gives grants to local social service organizations, such as Kids R First, Jeanie Schmidt Free Clinic, Herndon-Reston FISH and others, Sawyer said. He noted that 90 percent of proceeds after expenses were given away.

The founders had also decided early on that anyone who couldn’t afford to shop at the store could bring a chip from a local social services organization and pick up items for free, a practice that carries over in the current voucher program. Shelton recalled sending children to Nachman’s Department Store, with whom the Closet cooperated. "From the get-go, it was such a big deal," she said.

Leomia Brunson, who has worked with the Closet for 27 years, 17 of them as the manager, said the places of worship involved — 16 churches and a synagogue — had not changed much over the years. What had changed was that more people were being sent to the store by social services. She said the organization had grown considerably over the last three or four years. Meanwhile, she said, the children of the store’s original shoppers were now shopping there, realizing that they could find fashionable clothing at low prices.

Brunson said the supply of donated goods had never been a problem. "As long as I’ve been there, we’ve never wanted for anything because it’s always been there."

Sawyer said the organization had not experienced massive increases in clientele as a result of the recession, but he predicted that the number of people trading vouchers for free goods would be up this year. "We’re not getting bombarded, but yes, our customer base is growing," he said. Sawyer said clients came from as far away as Washington, D.C. and Silver Spring, Md. Meeting any increase in demand, he said, would depend on donations.

Closet President Laura Greenspan said the Closet was now taking donations from 500 people every six weeks and taking in $500,000 a year in gross profit.

County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova (D-at large), who was in attendance, said she thought the charity had outlived the normal life expectancy for such a group. "They do a fantastic job, and the fact that so many volunteers have been doing this work for so long is really exceptional," she said.

"It’s a very, very loving, caring organization started by ladies in this church," said Del. Tom Rust (R-86), noting that he had been an avid donor to the Closet. "In these difficult economic times, they really do fill a need."

"We’re very charmed to have the Closet within the town limits," said Herndon Town Council member Dave Kirby. "The Closet is the epitome of what Herndon really stands for. The residents are very charitable." He said he was also amazed by what could be found in the thrift shop, noting that he had recently stumbled on a nice shirt with the original price tag still attached.

Supervisor John Foust (D-Dranesville) said people needed to know that the Closet was not just a charity and a "real asset to the community" but also a successful store with a solid product and strong customer service. And, he said, "It’s such a good organization and supports so many human services programs that it’s important fur us to support the Closet."

"The Closet has been a very integral part of our community and I think support from the faith community and the volunteers that make it happen fills a void that the government can’t," said Supervisor Cathy Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill).

Del. Ken Plum (D-36) called the thrift store "a longstanding, important institution in the fabric of our community. They represent the heart of our community. We need them now more than ever."