This was previously published in our February 2024 issue. 

Emmaus High School put together something that many kids would enjoy: a two-day pop-up thrift shop. This was held on the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth of January after school until 4:30 p.m.  

The pop up thrift store was organized by junior Anna Smith and senior Josey Jackson; there were posters around the school to promote the thrift shop. They made an announcement on the school intercom and created an Instagram account to get the word around. 

Smith and Jackson mostly put this thrift shop together independently, but they had help from Heather Day, Amy Kaunitz, Principal Beth Guarriello, and Chelsea Reed. 

“The main goal of the thrift shop was to get clothing cycling throughout the Emmaus community; a lot of people throw clothes away, which is bad for the environment,” Smith stated.

Through creating this event, there was an abundance of things for the girls to do in order for them to be able to put this together. The hardest part for them was sorting and going through all of the clothing to get ready for it to be sold. They received many items to sell such as clothes, winter coats, leotards, scrubs, shoes, and lunch boxes. The thrift store was very successful. This event was not just for students to get new clothing and items, it was to help the environment from used items being stuck in a closet or going to waste. 

Many people have old clothing that sits in the back of closets waiting to be worn. This thrift store helped countless amounts of people that do not have enough clothing, or some people that have too much and their items go to waste. The event went successfully; teachers, aids, and crowds of students attended and enjoyed it. A lot of money was raised through this kind and selfless event.  

“Almost everyone who attended walked away with a new purchase,” Smith said.

Together, Smith and Jackson created all of this for charity. The charity they were involved in was called Keep America Beautiful, which is a nonprofit organization that helps with litter and debris around America to keep the environment clean. They raised money from the thrift store then donated it to Keep America Beautiful. 

With the extra clothing from the thrift store, Smith and Jackson decided to take the clothing and other items to womens, mens and childrens centers so nothing was gone to waste. Their ultimate goal was for them to give to people in need, along with raising money for charities to help the environment. Smith and Jackson planned the thrift store with a purpose to help the environment and other people. They really enjoyed creating this pop up thrift store experience for others and are considering doing it again.