Help Thy Neighbor

by Christina Bellamy

It was an ordinary September morning at The Bargain Box thrift store on Hilton Head Island. Volunteers showed up, put on their blue aprons, and got to work organizing donated items. The Bargain Box has been a successful non-profit venture since 1965, selling all manner of gently used goods. It sits beside the First Presbyterian Church on Hwy 278. Before we open, there is almost always a line of eager shoppers waiting to get in. Customers range from those who frequent Brooks Brothers, to regular Walmart shoppers, and those who have little left after their necessary monthly expenditures.

On this morning, a man appeared at the back door where donations are unloaded. He had an awesome request. He wanted to give us a check for $5,000 to purchase items from The Bargain Box to take to a small village in Mexico. “I have been fortunate, with much financial success in my life. I have an employee who grew up in a very poor village in Mexico. He has been telling me about the dire conditions and basic needs in his mountainous homeland region. The pictures that he showed me were shocking. We can get started with this check and your merchandise to support better lives for these people,” he said.

“I can support the people of Beaufort Co. with the purchase as well as those that these goods will be sent to.”

It was hard to believe! Yet as the plan unfolded, volunteers and staff got to work. They were all so pleased to be able to support this big idea. They sorted clothing for infants to elders, for many weather conditions, even winter jackets. Items for cooking, carpentry, recreation, arts and crafts, sewing, education, and holidays were boxed up. Small Beanie Babies for kids packed into box corners nicely. All was delivered to the man’s garage, where he loaded everything in a large truck and his employee drove it down to his Mexican village.

He said telling this story would be fine, but requested his name remain completely anonymous. “Maybe it would inspire someone else to get creative and generous. That would really mean something.” When we reflect on what this story means, this creative generosity, we know anything can happen in a place like The Bargain Box. This community thrift store continues to be a place to recycle donated belongings, a place for volunteers to work and have fun together for a common good, and a way to distribute profits to thousands of Beaufort Co. residents. In 2021, thirty nine nonprofits received over $450,000. A soup kitchen, medical clinic, summer camp, arts center, food pantry, pregnancy center, environmental museum, memory care, legal volunteers and more, all received financial support via grants from the Bargain Box.

Over sixteen million dollars has been donated since the Bargain Box began as a 501c3 more than fifty years ago. That is a lot of repurposed socks and hammers, an abundance of good will, and countless hours of volunteer labor. And in September of 2022, there was an additional $5000, thanks to one man’s creative generosity!

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