Encouraging philanthropy goal of new Jewish community thrift shop

Cathy Olswing hangs items in the Judaica section of the thrift store.

SHEILA WILENSKY
AJP Assistant Editor
The First Rate Second Hand thrift store, which will benefit Tucson synagogues and Jewish agencies, will open at the end of the month, says organizer Patty Vallance. As she sorts books while talking to the AJP in the former Swanson’s furniture store at 5252 E. Speedway, it seems that her unbounded energy can make anything happen.
“I feel like it’s up to me to be the ambassador to the entire community representing the Jewish community, which,” she says, “benefits Tucson as a whole.”
“[Hurricane] Katrina gave me the initial idea” for a thrift store, says Vallance. “Seeing how much stuff we all had and how generous the community was, was an empowering experience.”
With the thrift store idea germinating for the past year, Vallance tried to secure a location on Grant Rd., but when that fell through and Swanson’s moved and consolidated at Speedway and Swan, a deal was struck. The 6,800 square-foot space was leased to the thrift store on Nov. 1, and the Swansons left behind nearly $10,000 worth of inventory to seed the new venture.
Mike Swanson recalls when Vallance was furniture shopping for Katrina evacuees arriving in Tucson. Swanson’s ended up donating and delivering all the furniture for five apartments that local synagogue members prepared for the evacuees, says Vallance, adding that Swanson’s has also been financially supportive of Make a Difference Day for the past six years. Prior to meeting Vallance, says Swanson, the extent of his family’s donations was to drive a 28-foot truck to Mexico with used clothing and stuffed animals before Christmas.
Now Swanson is helping Vallance get the store ready. “Somebody was trying to give Mike a $20 tip for helping to carry stuff in the other day,” says Vallance, “and he said, ‘No, give it to the thrift store.’”
Vallance’s enthusiasm for helping others is contagious. The Swanson family “became empowering philanthropists,” she says. “They must have believed in my integrity, and knew I wasn’t getting anything [financially] out of this.”
Swanson is currently on the board of the Gerd and Inge Strauss Manor on Pantano and the B’nai Brith Covenant House. Over the past two years, his family has furnished apartments for the elderly who have been abused, “people in need,” notes Vallance, “whom he’ll never even meet.”
She says that her goal is “creating cooperative partnerships.” Swanson, says Vallance, is part of her “a bissel, a bissel, soon it’s a schnitzel” philosophy. “Everybody does a little bit and wonderful things happen. Everybody,” she says, “can do a little bit to make this successful.”
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is backing the thrift store for its first six months, lending its tax I.D. number to donation receipts until the business is established. The Second Hand First Rate advisory board includes Vallance, Jane Ash (who came up with the store name), Robyn Kessler, Mike Strauss, Donna Beyer and Cathy Olswing. Students at the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona wrote the business plan and established financial projections for the store.
Assistance has also come from individuals who have painted, cleaned the carpet and made substantial donations, such as the Safeway at Sabino and Tanque Verde, which recently remodeled. The Make a Difference Day partner sent its old shelving — at an estimated worth of $210,000 — to equip the thrift store.
Proceeds from the new venture will be distributed to synagogues or Jewish agencies, based on the number of volunteer hours worked by members or employees, or by volunteer choice. For example, Carol Heller and her partner, Phoenix Wheeler, who aren’t Jewish, are logging their volunteer hours for the JFSA’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) project. Their participation, says Vallance, speaks to the “level of credibility the Jewish community has, bringing non-Jews in to support it.” 
For unaffiliated members of the Jewish community, volunteering or donating items to the new thrift store, she says, allows them to contribute in a “secular way.” Donations will be accepted daily at First Rate Second Hand, except on Shabbat and Yom Tov, says Vallance, who “would love to have a wine and cheese [opening] reception so the whole community can see how cool this is.”
“I felt the hand of God in this project,” says Vallance, who calls the upcoming store opening “such a miracle in the making.” She also credits her “diverse group of friends who aren’t afraid of hard work” with the thrift store idea coming to fruition.
“Don’t burden yourself with stuff,” says Vallance, adding that if the new thrift store can’t use a donation, they will “recycle to [other] nonprofits to support their visions and missions.”
“It’s all about community building,” she says. Vallance’s husband, Chuck, supports his wife’s efforts but also has a more straightforward goal, she says. He recently told JFSA President Stuart Mellan, “I’ll give you my money, I’ll give you my wife, but I want my garage back.”
For more information, call Vallance at 250-8113.