Written by Kenzie James // Photo by Briley Kemper
Searcy nonprofit thrift store The Sharing Shoppe officially reopened its doors this week and celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The Sharing Shoppe is a part of Sparrow’s Promise, a local nonprofit organization that has supported children and foster families for over 50 years.
The Sharing Shoppe opened in 2009 and has served the community as a thrift store and donation center since then. All proceeds from the store support Sparrow’s Promise and its efforts to help families stay together.
Jill Davis, the secretary of the Sparrow’s Promise board, said the nonprofit has addressed this need in multiple ways in the last 50 years.
“Sparrow’s Promise has tried to adapt to say, ‘What is the biggest need and what can we do to help?’’’ Davis said.
The nonprofit opened a visit center a few years ago, addressing the need for a comfortable place for parents to meet weekly to play and spend time with their children.
The Sharing Shoppe also works with other local charities to serve the community, including His House, Imagine and Believe, and one of College Church of Christ’s ministries.
Beverly Ford, the coordinator for the Sharing Shoppe, said the charities sort through their donations and send each other items that would be more beneficial to the people each charity serves.
The Sharing Shoppe had to relocate buildings after its lease ended and worked for nine months to find a building to open again. After finding a building, volunteers worked to set up the store and organize the donations received before they opened.
Now located on Race Street next to Firehouse Subs, the Shoppe opened March 5 and celebrated the ribbon cutting March 20.
“I think this is a great location, and we’ve had a lot of customers already and a lot of new people coming in,” volunteer Brenda Roach said.
Roach said she has been working at the Sharing Shoppe for nine years and started because of her sister. Roach said that when she retired, her sister was volunteering at the Shoppe and that now they volunteer together each week.
All of the workers at the Sharing Shoppe are volunteers, and a different group volunteers every day to sort and sell the donations the store receives.
“Everybody here ― their passion, their compassion ― everything’s for the kids, and what we work for is foster children who have been taken away from their families,” Ford said.
