Spencer (front row, left) with a few of the Ann Arbor Thrift Shop’s 326 volunteers. Free labor enabled the nonprofit to grant more than $475,000 to socal service agencies this fiscal year, and they’re looking for new recruits. | Photo by Mark Bialek
Spencer is president of the Ann Arbor Thrift Shop, which at last count had 326 volunteers on its rolls. They do everything from greeting and assisting shoppers to sorting, pricing, and merchandising donations, shipping sales items, interacting with social service agencies, and coordinating donations with other philanthropic organizations.
Founded in the midst of the Great Depression to help mothers and children in need, the nonprofit shop’s mission and territory have expanded greatly since then. Once confined to residents of the city of Ann Arbor, its outreach now encompasses the entire county and all neighbors facing crises, whether they are unemployed, underemployed, struggling with substance or physical abuse, or confronting health-related challenges. Most recently, it also began assisting people transitioning to living independently after leaving jail or rehab facilities.
“Over time, we have evolved into an organization dedicated to sustainability,” Spencer adds. “We want to eliminate waste, reuse items, share donations, or find new uses for items.” An expert on Legos researches kits, recreates them from piles of random blocks and figures, and sells the kits on eBay. A jewelry appraiser values whatever comes through the doors. Still others specialize in antiques.
All those sales—and volunteer labor—enabled the AATS to grant more than $475,000 to social service agencies for its current fiscal year, up from $460,000 the year before.
On a blustery Thursday, Kathy Hunscher greets visitors to the shop on Washtenaw Ave., offering each one a clip. “We have to limit the number of shoppers to eighteen at a time, so they can enjoy their shopping,” she explains. The retired Saline High School counselor directs a harried-looking young mother to a rack of children’s winter coats and soon afterward she sends two high schoolers to the books corner at the rear of the shop.
“I love the atmosphere here,” Hunscher says. “I’ve only been a volunteer a year, but I’m so glad I joined.” She has friends who are longtime volunteers and decided the time was right for her to volunteer after her husband’s death. “And my son benefits from one of the social service agencies we support,” she says, pointing to the list on the wall behind her. “I know how much good the agency has done for my son and how much good the shop does for our community.”
As she speaks, other volunteers are busy receiving donations at the driveway behind the shop, while still others sort, price, and display merchandise. Merchandisers deliver a steady stream of new items to the racks and shelves. Some regulars arrive every day to look for bargains. “We don’t ask, but we can guess that they are reselling what they find,” Spencer says.
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A full-time employee at Mott Children’s Hospital, Mary Breakey is working the register today, but over the twenty-two years she has volunteered with AATS, she has held many positions. “When I joined, the shop was downtown, not far from my home. My children were little, and I went there a lot,” Breakey says. “The more I visited, the more I became impressed with its mission, and I wanted to become part of that.” Her children grew up wearing finds she purchased at the shop, as have generations of shoppers through the years. “I’ve watched their children grow up, and now those children are visiting the shop to find clothes for their children,” Breakey says. “It’s not unusual for shoppers to show us pictures of their children and grandchildren. This is that kind of place.”
But, she adds, “twenty-two years of volunteering here is nothing. One of our members, Constance Cress, just ‘retired’ after volunteering here for fifty-two years!”
Spencer joined the Thrift Shop in 2006, while working full-time as a CPA and raising her family. “I wanted to do something for my community, but with a family and full-time job, I had to be able to schedule volunteer work around a crazy calendar.” She first became active with the House Committee, which keeps the shop immaculate. “In my early years, that worked for me,” she says. “I could clean the shop after closing or come early in the morning to clean before opening hours.”
They’re always looking for more help. “We try to accommodate all different kinds of our volunteers’ lifestyles and interests,” says Spencer, who was elected president last May for a yearlong term. Her successor is watching and waiting in the wings, a practice that ensures smooth transitions.
“We used to give directly to individuals—we had a hotline for case workers’ calls, and we gave on a case-by-case basis,” Spencer says. “But as HIPAA and other regulations changed, we realized we were not social workers. So, we decided to change our model and rely on the people in direct contact with needy residents” by working through social service agencies.
“In 2023, we changed to a monthly grant system,” Spencer says. “Agencies can identify specific needs and needy individuals far more efficiently than we can. Now we can concentrate on what we do best: processing donations, merchandising, selling, and raising funds to help as many people as possible.” In 2023, they made grants to eighteen 501(c)(3) organizations, among them the Shelter Association, Avalon Housing, Catholic Social Services, SOS Community Services, Food Gatherers, and the St. Andrew’s Breakfast Program. A shopping cart program offers individual vouchers for distribution by local agencies—“not necessarily those who receive our grants,” Spencer says.
The recipients—including Ukrainian refugees and women who recently escaped from abusive situations—are invited to shop when the store is closed. They fill a cart with necessities, Spencer says, “no stigma involved.”
