WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The base Thrift Shop at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base can be part of your spring-cleaning plans, while also making you money and Wright-Patt families, military organizations and local communities.
Run by the Officers’ Spouses’ Club, the shop serves as a way to consign items their owners – anyone with a Department of Defense card – no longer want. Located at the eastern end of Bldg. 95 on Wright Avenue, Area A, next to Outdoor Recreation, the bright space holds a wide variety of merchandise, such as clothing, toys, sporting goods, home décor, books, household small appliances and furniture; the inventory changes frequently. Summer clothes are now being accepted.
Collectibles like Hummel figurines, fine china and coins also are for sale. Most uniform items, patches and PT gear also are available.
“What makes us unique is offering wonderful items from around the world thanks to military families consigning or donating the treasures they collected during overseas assignments,” said Monica Lewis, incoming OSC president.
Polish pottery and German beer steins are two examples.
“Normally people can consign up to 16 items per week, or up to 32 items if they can show us a copy of their PCS (permanent change of station) orders,” she said, “but in May we are offering a 16-item contract per day.”
Consignment hours are 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and people are welcome to stop by to see which items, such as gas-powered items, that cannot be accepted. Unacceptable items also are listed online at www.wrightpattersonosc.org.
Consignors keep 70 percent of their item’s selling price. The consignment term is for five weeks. At the end of the period, people are welcome to take back any unsold items or donate them to the Thrift Shop. Any donated items the shop is unable to sell are donated to other nonprofits so that nothing is thrown away.
“We have a process set in place where items that do not sell are cycled out in hopes they end up in the hands of people who need them the most,” Lewis said.
Anyone who does not wish to consign items is welcome to donate them during the shop’s regular business hours.
Monies raised by the shop, along with mah jongg book sales, go into the OSC’s welfare fund and provide scholarships to military dependents as well as buy holiday meals and gifts for Airmen and their families as needed, and support base events such as a sexual assault response and prevention dinner. Monies also purchase Christmas gifts for any child on base who is not sponsored.
The OSC welfare committee tries to ensure that at least 80 percent of monies raised go to support military organizations on base or elsewhere in the nation, as with the Fishers Houses and Air Force First Sergeants Association, with the remainder going to such community needs as area food banks, after-proms and the Family Violence Prevention Center – to the tune of more than $25,000 in 2019.
Awarding scholarships is a large part of the mission, too; last year $20,000 in college scholarships were awarded to military members’ spouses and dependents.
Lewis said $22,000 will be awarded May 9 to 10 high school graduates and two spouses who are continuing their education.
The Thrift Shop is run by OSC volunteers who donate an average of 800 hours per month. Lewis has volunteered for three years and is proud of her association with the club, which will celebrate its 75th year as an organization in June.
“We want to focus on celebrating all of our great accomplishments and all the wonderful things we have done for the community,” she said. “We want to motivate people to join us and keep us moving forward.
“For me volunteering here is a nice outlet,” she continued. “I can socialize with people from the base community. I know what I’m helping accomplish: I see consignors excited about their consignment checks; I see shoppers excited by their great finds; and I see other nonprofits’ gratitude when we donate unsold items. It’s a three-way win for everyone.”
Regular shopping hours are 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. The shop will be open June 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for its final Saturday of the spring season. The shop will close for the summer June 21 and reopen Aug. 16.
Cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are acceptable methods of payment.
Parking is available in front of the building and at either end.
More information on consigning, donating, shopping or volunteering can be found online at www.wrightpattersonosc.org, by calling the shop during business houses at 937-879-5630, or by visiting the club’s Facebook page at WPOSC THRIFT SHOP.
Note: The Thrift Shop will close at noon on May 17.
Thrift Shop Mother’s Day Special Event
- May 11, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Discounts and refreshments
- Sales only (no consigning)
- Bldg. 95, Wright Avenue, Area A, next to Recreation Supply