Masha Zabara and Jillian Reed simply missed one another after they every studied music on the Bard Faculty Conservatory of Music. However within the small city of Tivoli, the place many present and former Bard college students reside, their paths ultimately crossed. It led to them beginning a small enterprise collectively.
In the course of the Black Lives Matter motion of 2020, Zabara and Reed wished to attend rallies and donate to social justice organizations however discovered themselves restricted by their well being and monetary circumstances. They determined to purge their closets and have a yard sale at Zabara’s home in Tivoli to boost donation funds, spreading the phrase by means of an Instagram profile known as @Thrift2FightFascism, which later turned @Thrift2Fight. That sale would rapidly spiral right into a volunteer fundraising motion, social hub and car for whole communities to assist grassroots organizations.
Reed grew up in Vermont and moved to Dutchess County to attend Bard Faculty, incomes a twin diploma in human rights and flute efficiency. Zabara, whose pronouns are they/them, was born and raised in Belarus earlier than transferring to the U.S. at 16 for highschool. At Bard, they studied cello efficiency and filmography earlier than dropping out.
At their first sale, group members introduced luggage of their very own garments, making for a wider vary of sizes and kinds. After elevating extra funds than anticipated, Zabara and Reed deliberate one other sale and shortly the pair’s automobiles have been stuffed with donations.
From there, issues moved swiftly. Their inventory grew a lot {that a} resident briefly donated house of their constructing simply to retailer the garments, and Reed drove her Prius to assembly spots in random parking heaps the place donors would fill her trunk with luggage of garments. When the climate turned chilly, they persevered with “Rack Residencies,” displaying pop-up racks of clothes at totally different areas within the Hudson Valley, together with cafes and native boutiques. In early 2021, Reed received a Initiatives for Peace Grant, which funded Thrift 2 Struggle pop-ups round New York.
Deciding to begin a enterprise
As they continued considering of how to increase, Zabara and Reed, together with one other early collaborator, Collin Lewis, knew they wished to middle their fundraising round racial and incapacity justice and queer liberation.
However whereas they’d a imaginative and prescient, they’d by no means earlier than began a enterprise. They analyzed the enterprise fashions of organizations like Goodwill and Salvation Military together with unbiased classic and consignment shops, in search of methods to make their enterprise sustainable whereas persevering with to assist their causes.
“We have been realizing that we couldn’t discover a center the place there’s a spot you will get garments for inexpensive quantities of cash in a nonjudgmental manner and the cash really goes to one thing really good,” Zabara stated.
Once they had questions on sure particulars of their budding enterprise, they seemed to the group. “We have been going about it with the baseline assumption … that everybody needs to assist after which giving them the chance to,” Reed stated.
After in search of areas in Kingston with no luck they determined to plant their storefront in Tivoli, opening in January of 2022. In such a small city they puzzled in the event that they’d make sufficient to pay lease, however they started working. Zabara recalled being lined in sawdust for weeks as they constructed dressing rooms and sorted clothes with the assistance of buddies and neighbors. “Each particular person on this village has painted these partitions with us,” they stated. To their shock, after one month open they made sufficient to pay lease and maintain their mission.
Zabara (left) and Reed opened their Tivoli storefront in January of 2022.
Tyler EmersonThe group has proven up constantly for Thrift 2 Struggle over the previous three years. Moreover the founders, the shop is staffed by volunteers from Bard Faculty and members of Camp Ramapo’s Workers Assistant Expertise, a program that helps younger folks put together for maturity. And recent donations are at all times coming in, which has led to pop-up gross sales in collaboration with native organizations and universities from Brooklyn to Buffalo.
Persevering with the struggle
Thrift 2 Struggle’s storefront is spacious, vivid and well-located on Tivoli’s Broadway, which has seen extra foot visitors with the recognition of shops like Tivoli Basic and Fortunes Ice Cream. The constructing itself is historic, previously working as a village corridor and bookstore for a few years.
Since establishing themselves in Tivoli, Thrift 2 Struggle has given again to their group by internet hosting occasions like free clothes swaps and two “Artwork Is How I Struggle” reveals the place the partitions of the shop change into a brief gallery for the art work of people who find themselves at present incarcerated. Different occasions embrace movie screenings in collaboration with teams like Launch Getting older Individuals in Jail, one of many organizations that Thrift 2 Struggle funds. And for individuals who may have somewhat monetary assist, they’ve a pay-it-forward “Mitzvah Wall” the place you may anonymously chip in on a random buyer’s buy.
To this point, Thrift 2 Struggle has hosted greater than 50 pop-up gross sales and redistributed practically $65,000 in funds to greater than 30 organizations. However they will even stay a spot to clean up your wardrobe with a brand new tee, a pair of footwear or a classic costume. Would-be prospects who can’t make it to Tivoli can discover choose items at Thrift 2 Struggle’s Depop.
Interested by donating? Thrift 2 Struggle accepts garments of all sizes and kinds on a walk-in foundation throughout retailer hours: Thursday by means of Monday from midday to six p.m. or 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Thrift 2 Struggle additionally accepts financial donations on its web site.