Second Harvest serves the community through affordable goods, community grants, and partnerships.
Second Harvest Community Thrift Store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has been providing quality goods at affordable prices since 2021.
In early 2018, a bequest from Wilma Stoebener was left to the Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church. The funds were restricted to the “care and support of the local indigent”. That summer, a community thrift store unexpectedly closed. The community had relied on the affordable clothing, shoes, and furniture the thrift store provided.
Members of Fox Chapel Presbyterian wanted to continue the Harvest Fair ministry; an annual rummage sale held by the church. With the closure of the community thrift store, church members decided to form a new nonprofit organization called Second Harvest using the funds from the estate of Wilma Stoebener.
In 2019, the perfect building was found to house the new community venture. In 2020, the property was purchased, and architects began to work as fundraisers were held to finish the project. By late 2020, the renovations were complete.
The mission of Second Harvest seeks “to meet the material and relational needs of our community by providing quality goods at affordable prices.” The thrift store sells gently used clothing, housewares, and furniture from within the Fox Chapel Area School District.
The nonprofit has since embarked on many partnerships, including one with Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Hello Neighbor, which helps refugees become self-sufficient by pairing them with residents to help them navigate a new life.
With the partnership, Second Harvest provinces the newly settled immigrants all they need for their new home at no cost. “Whether it’s furniture or warm clothes or food, oftentimes they have nothing,” said Second Harvest executive director Bonnie DeMotte.
Morgann Green, volunteer coordinator for Hello Neighbor, said, “With Second Harvest, we can go beyond the bare minimum and take the next step from surviving to thriving.”
Second Harvest accepts donations of items that people would “proudly share with a neighbor or friend.” All proceeds are reinvested into the community. The thrift store, which has only been in business for two years, generates community development grants from its sales.
In 2023, grants ranging from $1,500 to $10,000 were awarded to recipients varying from a youth empowerment program to an emergency services organization, to a memorial grant for a river trail park.
Second Harvest Community Thrift Store is investing in the Pittsburgh community, and it will do so for years to come.
