Lifestyle & Culture

Thrifty Spenders Help Finance Charitable Work

Those who shop at certain thrift stores are doing more than just adding to their wardrobe or their home’s decor. What those shoppers put into the cash register at several of their favorite thrift stores winds up helping people in need.

One of those operations is Cure Thrift Shop, a non-profit on East 12th Street that benefits juvenile diabetes research and works to raise awareness of the disease, said store manager Ali Gilbertson.

Gilbertson said she believes raising money for diabetes is important because her best friend, Liz Wolff, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when she was 11 years old. Wolff opened up the store six years ago, and Gilbertson has run it since.

“The work researchers have been doing, labs that we support, seem so close to a cure,”  Gilbertson said.

Her friend’s personal experience with diabetes isn’t the only reason Gilbertson works in a thrift store. Gilbertson grew up in a family that often shopped at thrift stores and has been a thrifty spender since she was a girl.  “I have always been interested in secondhand items,” she added, “stuff with history and a story.”

She also explained that Cure is special because of its atmosphere. She and her co-workers want customers to fully enjoy their shopping experience at Cure.

The two-story thrift shop sells items ranging from furniture to clothing. Couches, chairs, coffee tables, reading lamps are displayed along with dresses, T-shirts, scarves, purses and suits. Recently at Cure, there were earrings selling for $12, faux-gold bangles for $2 and a designer dress for $60.

All of Cure Thrift Shop’s proceeds go directly to two organizations, Marjorie’s Fund and the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.

The philanthropic model that Cure Thrift Shop uses was inspired by another store: the Arthritis Foundation Thrift Shop on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

The Arthritis Foundation Thrift Shop has been open for 51 years and, according to its website, is “one of NYC’s premiere thrift shops.”

The store’s manager, Cherie Byrd, chose to work there for personal reasons: her aunt is arthritic. “Arthritis is a condition many people are not familiar with. Kids are affected as well,” Byrd said.

Like Cure Thrift Shop, the Arthritis Foundation Thrift Shop donates all of its profits to research and awareness of arthritis.

“All items inside this thrift store are brand name,” Byrd added. “The items [sold at] this thrift store are all donations.”

According to Byrd, the shop has helped more than 300,000 children suffering with arthritis.