The TCNJ Bonner Thrift Project team would like to share an exciting update with everyone about the latest pop-up thrift shop on September 27th. The team managed to create a $1094 profit for the Rescue
Mission of Trenton through their first pop-up of the Fall 2017 semester. They had a total of 101 customers and sold 165 items of clothing. All of the money earned on this day goes directly back to the Rescue Mission.
The Rescue Mission of Trenton has been a TCNJ Bonner Institute community partner for quite some time now. The partnership between Bonner and The Rescue Mission dates back to 2006, but the Thrift Project began in 2012. The Rescue Mission is located in Trenton and aims to “serve the truly needy men and women who have no place to turn for shelter, food, and clothing. The Mission provides a safe, clean, and warm refuge for the homeless, the hungry, the transient, and the addicted”. The Thrift Project gets all of the clothing for the pop-ups at the Rescue Mission’s thrift store, and gives back the left over clothes and all of the money made during the event. This money will then be filtered back into the Rescue Mission to help fund some of their programs and initiatives surrounding homelessness and hunger.
Since the Thrift Project began, it has evolved into a campus wide thrift store that hosts pop-ups four times a year on campus, along with mini flash sales, a clothing swap, and participation in events around NJ like Princeton’s Communiversity and The Trenton Punk Rock Flea market. The Thrift Project owes its success to the support of not only Bonners, staff, and students, but mostly to the Rescue Mission for helping the team to aim high and keep growing. This last pop-up raised over $1,000 … but they don’t wish to stop there. Current site leader of the Thrift Project, Bonner scholar junior Khadijah Yasin said at the pop-up on Wednesday, “We are so excited to kick off the Fall semester with our first pop-up of this school year! Our goal is to beat the average profit at each sale from last year, and reach a wider audience. We look forward to future events!”.
The Thrift Project team and Rescue Mission needs your help to grow even larger! Come support us at an on-campus shop or even visit the Rescue Mission thrift store directly! The mission of the Thrift Project is not just to sell clothing to help support programs of the Rescue Mission, but we also aim to educate the campus and community about the realities of homelessness and hunger in our immediate, surrounding area. Additionally, we want to inform the community members about the negative impact that their clothing has on the environment and the positive effects of recycling/up-cycling clothing.
Check out the Rescue Mission’s website, and the Thrift Project’s Facebook and Instagram for more information on how you can make an impact!
Rescue Mission of Trenton’s website: www.rescuemissionoftrenton.org
The Thrift Project’s Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheRMThriftProject/
The Thrift Project Instagram: @thethriftprojecttcnj