Volunteer A-State hosted its second thrift shop inside the Carl Reng Student Union, raising an estimated $35 and increasing awareness about available student resources.

Nicholas Sides, a senior history and business administration double major from Newport, Arkansas, serves as the president for the volunteer council in Volunteer A-State. He said the thrift shop was designed to inform students about on-campus support services and resources.

“Many students don’t even know we have a food pantry or where it is, or even that you can get clothes there. I want students to know what resources are available to them on campus,” Sides said.

He said the first thrift shop was held last semester and was well-received. In addition, he said he tries to develop creative events that support students — especially with financial concerns.

“Anything that we can do to make the college experience better for students is what I think about with Volunteer A-State and I think this event does just that,” Sides said. 

The thrift shop offered sweaters, t-shirts, blouses, long sleeve shirts, jeans, hoodies and more, with all items priced at $2.

Elizabeth England, a senior political science and economics double major from Piedmont, Missouri, is the food pantry operations director for Volunteer A-State. She said students who use the food pantry often lack critical food groups such as proteins, fruits and grains, and in colder months, there’s been an increase in students needing clothing, especially during colder months. 

“We quickly realized that the campus community would benefit from utilizing some sort of campus thrift store, that’s why we created it,” England said.

Clothing for the thrift shop came from previous donation drives or was provided by student donors through registered student organizations (RSOs). Upsold items will be returned to the food pantry for students, faculty or staff in need.

England said proceeds from the thrift shop will support an upcoming event: Puppies, Pancakes and Produce.

“We hope that when students purchase [clothing], they realize the cause of what it’s going towards–buying more food for the food pantry, special projects we’re doing to help the campus community and food insecurity and we also hope that it just brings more awareness,” England said. 

She said collaboration between large and small RSOs is important to build a more compassionate and resource-aware campus culture. 

“We like to partner with RSOs, Greek organizations and larger organizations within the leadership center,” England said. “However, I think that there can be more work done to cultivate that campus awareness with more unity within bigger RSOs and smaller RSOs.”

Students can support the pantry by signing up to volunteer one hour per week or participating in the food recovery program.

Caleb Gerrish, a sophomore civil engineering major from Paragould, said he appreciates events that provide local clothing options and encourages community engagement. 

“I think it definitely gives people opportunities to kind of get some local wear, any kind of people that don’t really have this kind of clothing to reach out to people,” Gerrish said. “They may not have, they may not have very many different outfits. So this kind of gives them an opportunity,” Gerrish said.

Olivia Edwards, a sophomore environmental science and history double major from Jonesboro, said she attended the thrift shop because of her love for thrifting. 

“I’ve always thrifted my whole life. When I was younger, we would always go to thrift stores on the weekends in the towns that I played softball games at, so it was always nostalgic for me,” Edwards said. 

She said seeing clothing donated by peers reflects the diversity of fashion on campus. She also said events like this are helpful for students who cannot afford to leave to shop.

“It’s really nice to have somewhere here that you can shop for clothes, especially when everything is so cheap,” Edwards said. “There are also people here who can’t even leave campus because they can’t drive, or don’t have cars, so just overall having something like this is just really nice and helpful.”

Olivia Kakarlamudi, a sophomore pre-medical student from India, said the thrift shop made a big difference for international students.

“As an international student, or any other student, it is hard to go out at your bases and treat yourself with something that is relatively close to us,” Kakarlamudi said. 

She said she first heard about the thrift shop through the A-State app two weeks ago.

“I am interested in shopping as it is and being an international student, we really don’t have the luxury to go out and get stuff, so this would really help us to get some nice clothes,” Kakarlamudi said. 

Kakarlamudi said she appreciated the planning and effort behind the event and believes it benefited both the students who organized it and those who attended. 

“This would help people get what they want with the least amount of expenses, as we are students, we don’t earn that much,” Kakarlamudi said. “I hope I see something like this again in the future.”

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