The thrift store in my community has closed. It has brought people together for the past thirty years. The volunteers were invited to a party to celebrate and to share stories. The silver lining is that a new home for BATS... Bryn Athyn Thrift Store.... is in the pipeline to be built not far away. The hundreds of people who shop, donate, and volunteer there are waiting to see it materialize. 

In those decades the culture has opened up to the wisdom of recycling. Millennials are amenable to using preowned clothes and furniture, thus reducing the footprint that comes from always buying new as well as lowering the cost. During the event the manager asked people to raise their hands if they were wearing something from BATS. Mine shot up. 

The community that swirls around this hundred year old barn includes people from eighty seven lands, and a broad reach of economic levels. One volunteer mentioned that a regular shopper had a sharp increase in purchases, and quietly mentioned that they had lost everything in a fire. Back when I worked with the preschool and Lunch Bunch crowd, I brought kids to spend a dollar, which was a small fortune for a three year old. At Christmas we also bought wrapping paper and made gifts to take home to their mothers. 

As a costumer I often scooped up an armload of garments to modify for musicals, and when I spearheaded the Marriage Conference it was fun to create date baskets from the wonderful offerings that showed up each week. A pair of wine glasses, a novel, linen napkins and a vase of flowers made a sweet door prize. 

People who are on the giving end also love BATS. Clearing out a parent's home was easier if they could bring the wardrobe and dishes for someone else to use. College students could easily furnish their dorm rooms. One such donation accidentally included a thousand dollars in cash, and because honesty is the policy at BATS it made it back to the unsuspecting giver. 

Perhaps the absence of the thrift store will amplify its value for all of us. In a year we will again be able to cross the new threshold, either with empty arms looking for treasure, or full ones looking to rehome our lamps and pillows.