The Headstart program at St. John Bosco Parish in Redford was getting a new playground unit, and the director offered the old one to Lutheran Social Services. Anna Romund, development director, thought the ACTION Thrift Store in Saginaw might be able to sell it. Jean Schluckebier, the volunteer manager of the store, jumped at the opportunity. Jean leased a truck and hired a driver to pick up the playscape – only to discover that it could not be sold because it had been purchased with federal dollars. The unit had to be donated to another federally supported project. Jean immediately called Yvonne Riggins-Thomas, director of Neighborhood House, Lutheran Social Services’ community center in Saginaw. Yvonne (in photo) recruited a group of volunteers to assemble the unit, which can be used by up to 20 children at a time.

“Our vision in ACTION is not only to provide grants from the proceeds of sales at the Thrift Store but also to coordinate the movement of merchandise and equipment to Lutheran Social Services centers,” said Jean. “Seeing the Neighborhood House children enjoying their new playground confirms our conviction that this type of teamwork strengthens our ministry.” 

The ACTION Thrift Store in Saginaw has been getting a much-needed facelift, including an identifying sign on the building itself. The bars and trim around the windows, previously a foreboding black, have been repainted in soft green. The painters were volunteers Libby Sanders-Ford and her husband, Mike Ford. Libby is an art teacher in Birch Run and a friend of the Thrift Store’s volunteer manager, Jean Schluckebier. “Neither are Christians but they were quite interested in the stories I told about our customers and our ministry,” said Jean. “Mike came in the store at one point, handed me $20 and said to give it to a customer who shows need. As our day wore on, you could tell they were more and more excited about our ministry at ACTION and what Christians do to help the less fortunate.  It was a wonderful day of witnessing and painting.” Proceeds from sales at the Thrift Store are donated by ACTION to help Lutheran Social Services' programs.

Petersburg, Mich., southwest of Detroit, is 150 miles from the ACTION Thrift Store in Saginaw, but when the women of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Petersburg heard that the store needed goods to sell, they went to work.

They filled the narthex of the church with donated clothing, small household items and furniture, dishes, computers and lots of odds and ends. Jean Schluckebier, the thrift store’s volunteer manager, and Mike Alsgaard, from St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in nearby Bridgeport, drove to Toledo to pick up a U Haul truck and then to Petersburg to get the goods.

At the church, more than a dozen volunteers pitched in so it took less than an hour to fill the truck. Schluckebier put the lamps, pictures and other delicate items in her own car, which was also filled to capacity. The church contributed $100 towards the truck rental and gas expense. Back at the store, the lamps and furniture sold quickly, said Schluckebier.

On May 17 Schluckebier rented another truck, from Penske this time, to pick up donated goods from St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in St. Clair Shores.

“I hope more churches will be able to help us this way,” said Schluckebier. “We especially need furniture, small appliances in good condition and household items. They sell very quickly and bring in a good profit, which we then use to help the people served by Lutheran Social Services.”

The ACTION Thrift Store opened in 1983. Operated by the volunteers of ACTION for LSSM, the store has generated more than $450,000 for Lutheran Social Services.

If your church or neighborhood organization can help by holding a local collection drive, contact Jean Schluckebier at the ACTION Thrift Store, (989) 755-3333 or action@lssm.org.