Drive past the shiny and fabulous new Savoy bookshop, past the railroad, and turn right just past Meatballs and Martinis. Down this little lane resides a veritable treasure trove of Things You Might Possibly Need: a huge thrift store– well-spaced, well-laid out, and nearly warehouse-sized.
The beige building with a long wooden ramp in front is filled with organized rows, piles and aisles of used clothing, children’s items, kitchenware, books, shoes, bags, furniture, art and jewelry, and surely some miscellaneous categories I’m missing in this list. Such is the bounty housed in the Jonnycake Center at the curve in the road of Industrial Drive.
I can tell you that I still wear the near-new (when I bought them five years ago) pair of Etienne Aigner leather riding boots I bought at the Jonnycake Center for $2. I also regularly reinvigorate my eyes on the 70’s needlepoint I found at the Center of a birch tree in late summer, its leaves a-fluttering away as a flock of birds come in from far off.
The teaspoons I buy there are a God-send to the black hole which apparently exists just for them in my kitchen drawer. And I travel with a large, vintage Yves Saint Laurent bag that I am sure is the envy of all stylish eighties-fashion lovers on the train. Okay, the bag may not be actual YSL. I’m pretty sure– I’d bet its three-dollar price tag a few times over– that it’s not. But it doesn’t matter. I like it, and it was three dollars. If treasure you seek, the end of the rainbow is here at the JonnycakCenterer.
And yet, new (to you) spoons, bags, art and even boots aren’t the best thing going on here. The Jonnycake center has a mission far beyond reinvigorating your wardrobe/walls/utensil drawer. The benefits of this center help many in the southern Rhode Island community, and your purchases support that.
Behind the (maybe real) YSL bags, the baskets of vintage Christmas ornaments, and the totally beautiful couch that I want but do not have room for—there is another side to the center. Classroom, conference room, offices, shelves of food and, soon, new walk-in coolers worthy of a grocery store— it is these places which expand the meaning of treasure trove. The Jonnycake Center’s many community programs make a real difference in Rhode Islander’s lives.
These programs run the gamut from year-round farmer’s markets of local produce, to a year-round food pantry, cooking classes for such food, baby car seats for those in need, and even financial literacy workshops and career classes- complete with paid internship. Your purchases and donations support these programs.
“The biggest challenges,” said Jonnycake Center executive director Liz Pasqualini in a phone interview last week, “are overhead and operating–what it takes to rent and heat this building, and have quality trained staff members in it.” That’s where your donations and purchases come in. “The thrift store is our largest single donor. After paying for itself, it raises another fifty percent for the other parts of our organization. The thrift store allows anybody to be a donor to our organization. You don’t have to put a check in the mail, you don’t have to buy groceries, but [one can] donate. In that sense, our clients–folks that rely on the Jonnycake Center to put food on the table– they are also donors.”
Once the thrift store is pays for itself, the Center can concentrate on its other programs. “On Wednesdays,” said Pasqualini, “we give out free, fresh, local, organic produce. It’s the coolest thing. It’s completely free…. We don’t care who’s in line. We just want people to use it and get good, quality, healthy food.”
Pasqualini reports that every week during the summer, roughly two hundred people come through the farmers’ market line. The market opens at nine — in the summer months — and since people often start lining up at eight, the Center runs activities and programs to fill that time. Says Pasqualini, “every week we have a healthy cooking demo” to give people meal ideas for using the food available at the market.
“In addition to the cooking demos,” says Pasqualini, “we do something health or safety related.” Last year the Center partnered with the Westerly Police Department and did a car-seat safety check, giving out free car seats to families in need of them. Other programs for farmers’ market shoppers have been free flu shots and blood pressure screenings.
This year, the Center is excited to be getting new walk-in coolers and freezers, which are very important for a donation-dependent organization. With donated food, said Pasqualini, “when it rains, it pours. We either have a lot, or none.” She continued, “Thanksgiving and Christmas, we see our donations not double, but quadruple. Last month we brought in thirteen thousand pounds of donations. A typical month in the summer, we might see three or four thousand pounds.”
The Center is open to receiving food donations every day, and also partners with the grocery stores in town. Says Pasqualini,
“Stop and Shop, every single day, has five and ten dollar bags available, whose contents change based on what the Center’s food needs are.” Shoppers can buy these bags of mostly dry goods and the Center then picks them up once a week. In addition, Pasqualini says, “Aldi’s and Stop and Shop in Westerly do a program called Fresh Rescue,” dealing more with meats, pastries and produce. “We collect that once a week. That can be anywhere from two hundred pounds to seven hundred pounds that we’re bringing in every week from our local grocery stores. They’re going out of their way to accommodate us with that. It matters so much,” she says, as to getting such generous donations, “who your local store managers are. We’re very, very blessed.”
There are so many ways to enjoy and take part in all of the good things the Westerly Jonnycake Center has going on. Head down to Industrial Avenue for some shopping, to donate, or simply add a donation bag to your regular groceries while at Stop and Shop in Westerly. Many in Southern Rhode Island will thank you.
Tune in next week to find out about the Jonnycake Center’s Career Training courses!
Photos by Kathleen Croteau
