Today began with a somewhat lengthy drive to Tampa, eventually arriving at the Spring of Tampa Bay's thrift shore. The Spring of Tampa Bay provides shelter for abused women and their families as well as outreach services. The thrift shore is one of the main sources of financial support for the organization, along with funding from United Way, grants, and personal donations. The thrift store proves to be much more than just a source of money for the Spring, however. The store provides many necessities for their participants as well, such as furniture, clothes, dishes, and hygiene products. Many of the donations to the thrift store are given directly to the women and families participating with the organization. The store also provides as job training for some of the women at the Spring.
We pulled up to the back dock, cluttered with donations from earlier that morning and populated by employees and volunteers already working hard. Once inside, we were given a brief tour and introduction to the building (dock, storage, employee area, and store). Chris, one of the employees in the store, explained to us on the everyday functioning of the store. Then it was time to get some work done. Our first task: the restock the racks of the store! Seems like a pretty easy task, right? We were astonished to see just how many clothes needed to be stocked! There were endless moving racks in the storage room full of clothes of all kinds (not really, there were maybe 10 or 11 racks)! The hard part was not the stocking, but the sorting. Chris had explained earlier which clothes went on each rack, just like any store would have. Between the work of our group of nine, we managed to sort through all of the clothes and were onto the next project.
Our second task: organizing, sorting, and hanging the newly donated clothes! This proved even more intensive than the first task. Patricia, a long time volunteer at the dock (where everything is donated and sorted), guided us how to navigate the task. The group began hanging up clothes that were destined to be on the racks of the store (ironically, they were hung on the exact moving racks that we had just emptied 30 minutes ago). Once all of the racks were full again, it was time to sort bathing suits. bras, and scarves for the store. We also, began to clean up in the dock area in order to get the "bad" or unusable clothes bagged up to be picked up by a company. They receive money for each pound of clothes given to this company, so they are able to make money even if the clothes never see the racks of the actual thrift store. The clothes are recycled into tactile's to be used and sent to other countries.
The long process that we went through to sort, organize, and stock the store is a process that the employees and volunteers have to go though everyday in order to keep the store open and functioning properly. And even though, the day was filled with lots of work and a lot of clothes, it was humbling to see that our group was able to make such a large impact on an organization. All we did was sort through clothes, but the women at the thrift shop were so thankful for the help! It was evident that it meant the world to them to receive such help from volunteers.
After leaving the thrift shop, we were headed to the administrative office of the Spring to learn more about the organization. We were given a short tour of some of the facilities and were able to sit down and talk with some of the women that work there. It was very informational for me personally since I am studying Social Work. It was great to get the opportunity to hear how a non-profit like the Spring works behind the scenes. It was also very inspirational to learn about all the service, education, and advocacy that the organization provides for the Tampa Bay area.
Then it was back on the road again! We made it back to the Ruskin campus and got settled back in. That meant it was time for dinner, or should I say breakfast for dinner! We fired up the grill and cooked some gluten free pancakes (blueberry and banana added for most), scrambled eggs, and turkey bacon. It was delicious!
After dinner, we watched a Tedx Talk by a woman named Linda Smith about human trafficking. It was educational and interesting to hear and lead to a great group discussion and reflection.
We can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us!
Much love,
Lydia
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