Parents in Ann Arbor, Michigan, frustrated by school wrapping paper drives that brought in little money, decided to build a different kind of fundraiser, CBS News Detroit reported.
Here’s what to know
According to CBS News Detroit, the idea took shape in the early 1990s when families in the Ann Arbor Public Schools district started looking for a more worthwhile alternative to traditional school fundraising.
Founding member Janet Fritsch shared, “One of the women I was friends with had a sister in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where the school district had a thrift shop where all of the money went back to the school system. So, we kind of investigated that idea.”
The result was the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop, a nonprofit that now operates out of a more than 22,000-square-foot location and has 36 employees. Its sales floor spans furniture, books, toys, jewelry, kitchenware, clothing, and a separate higher-end space called “The Showcase.”
The shop has raised more than $3.8 million for PTOs serving each of the district’s 33 schools.
More background
The shop’s impact is far-reaching, general manager Paulette Brown said. Unsellable items are increasingly being recycled instead of thrown away, which has reduced how often its dumpster needs service…