Celebrating 10 years of service

By Sheila Baldwin
Special to The Citizen

If you have ever had an excess of clothes or household items or needed to buy an item for a reasonable price, you may have discovered Clothes Less Traveled Thrift Shop (CLT) on Ga. Highway 74 in Peachtree City. For over 10 years many volunteers have put in countless hours sorting, displaying and selling gently used items all for the purpose of helping the local community.

It is difficult to measure the impact that this ministry has had on Fayette County when one considers its longevity as well as the wide range of benefits it provides. The mission statement, which is posted on its website (www.clotheslesstraveled.org), emphasizes the goal to provide an atmosphere for the community to buy decent things at a reasonable price, to offer a means of community service and to contribute the profits to worthwhile organizations to meet their needs.

This month marks the 10th anniversary of CLT, which was the brain child of Mary Ann Cox, along with Joan Velsmid, current board president, and Whitney Pyles, a student. According to Velsmid, Cox was looking for an effective way to disperse donations made to her church. She solicited a few other like-minded Samaritans who joined her in starting a small shop in a 500 square foot storefront on Huddleston Dr. in Peachtree City. Little did she know that not only would they still be in business all these years later but that they would need to relocate to a facility ten times that size just to hold all of their inventory.

Any day of the week, except Sunday, you will find a busy parking lot and a store full of eager shoppers searching for treasures. Meanwhile, others are donating no-longer-needed items to restock the racks and shelves. CLT works efficiently due to the organizational gifting of shop manager Jeanie Loper, the oversight of a dedicated board of 10 community leaders and the enthusiastic crew of over 125 volunteers.

A few statistics should help clarify what this group accomplishes each year.

Over 40,000 volunteer hours have been contributed to running this shop during the past 10 years. The current number of volunteers stands at over 125. That number sounds like a lot, but because of the high volume of donations and sales (with at least two volunteers per shift, two shifts per day and an average of 26 days per month), they are necessary to operate the store. In the words of Clothes Less Traveled board member Chris Baran, “We need all the help we can get! We have been blessed with a very dedicated volunteer group that works hard in support of our mission.”

Clothes Less Traveled distributes some of the items on hand directly to people who have immediate needs both locally and nationally. Through the form of vouchers, over $50,000 in merchandise has been given to those in need through referrals from various service organizations, including the Division of Family and Children Services, St. Vincent De Paul, Aid & Advice Pregnancy Problem Center, Fayette Samaritans and Babies Can’t Wait, to name a few. Over $10,000 in merchandise has been given to those in need through various charitable support groups, including Books to Africa, tornado victims in Americus, Ga., Hurricane Katrina victims, Peruvian earthquake victims, Liberian missions, house fire victims and the list continues to grow.

What does a nonprofit do with all the money they bring in you may wonder? Here are some of the ways CLT puts its proceeds to use. Fifty percent of its gross income is given back to the local community through grant awards. In the past ten years, a total of $562,000 in grants and scholarships have been awarded with an additional $200,000 to be given in 2007.

A list of some of the groups who have benefited from these charitable gifts include: A Better Way Ministry, Cambridge House/Newnan, Community Welcome House, Fayette Care Clinic, Fayette Art Center, Promise Place (formerly known as Fayette Council on Domestic Violence), Fayette Pregnancy Resource Center, Fayette Youth Protection Home, Fayette YMCA, Good Samaritan Transition House/Newnan, Holy Trinity Hispanic Health Fair, local Boy Scout Troops, Girl Scout Troops and Eagle Scout projects, Real Life Center/Tyrone, Royal Family Kid’s Camp and Southwest Christian Hospice, as well as those previously named.

It is clear that Fayette County has been blessed through the work of Clothes Less Traveled, including the board and volunteers who have had a part in this great success.

To celebrate the 10 year milestone, a volunteer dinner and celebration is taking place on Thursday, October 10 at Holy Trinity. The event will celebrate and honor all who have given their time and resources.

To learn more about Clothes Less Traveled, including how to volunteer or donate, visit www.clotheslesstraveled.org.

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