Eversafe Ranch Thrift Store, a Cloverdale institution that has helped countless residents since it opened six years ago, will close its doors for good this December.
Judy Daser and Judith Ogden run the thrift store to help those who need help. They clothe the homeless, they furnish the apartments of women and children moving out of women鈥檚 shelters, and they give Christmas presents to families who can鈥檛 afford to put gifts under the tree.
鈥淲e鈥檒l give to you,鈥� said Ogden. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 our policy. Just ask us, and if you鈥檙e in need, we鈥檒l give it to you.鈥�
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It is a charity thrift store that puts everything it makes back into the community. They were already struggling to make rent when they received a letter in the mail, stating that their rent was going up an extra $2,000 a month.
鈥淲e just can鈥檛 afford it,鈥� explained Ogden.
Neither Daser nor Ogden harbour any ill feeling towards their landlord. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 their business,鈥� said Ogden. 鈥淎nd if we could have afforded it, we would have stayed.鈥�
鈥淚t [already] takes a lot of sales to make up our expenses, and there鈥檚 no point in doing this if we can鈥檛 help families,鈥� said Ogden.
After receiving the letter, Ogden and Daser then began to look to various vacancies in the downtown Cloverdale area, but had no luck in finding a space. Not because they didn鈥檛 find one that was priced right, but because they found out that thrift stores were unwanted.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for us to move,鈥� said Ogden. She explained that they had looked at moving into some of the empty storefronts in Clover Square Village, but that they 鈥渄on鈥檛 allow thrift stores in there.鈥�
鈥淲e tried a couple places in here [downtown Cloverdale] as well, and they also said no. They don鈥檛 want a thrift store,鈥� said Daser.
The Eversafe Ranch charity thrift store will be missed dearly by community members like Marianne Dumay, who works as an Inner City Worker at the Cloverdale Learning Centre.
鈥淢any of our students, now graduated or currently attending, so many have benefitted from that store,鈥� said Dumay.
Over the years, the thrift store has helped students find clothes for interviews or work, they funded the ingredients for the school鈥檚 breakfast and lunch programs, they paid out of pocket to give graduation dresses to students, and much more.
鈥淭hey have an open door policy for students living independently,鈥� said Dumay.
If they see a student without proper winter clothes, they鈥檒l extend a hand to offer winter boots and a jacket. And it鈥檚 not unheard of for the store to buy out all of the CLC鈥檚 bake sale fundraisers, bring the goods back to the store and give them out for free to people who come by.
鈥淭hey showed up one time with three $100 gift certificates to Willowbrook Mall. There were some students having financial difficulties, and they wanted them to have new clothes for Christmas.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the kind of people they are,鈥� said Dumay.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e just 鈥� I want to cry. I鈥檓 going to miss them,鈥� she said.
From simple beginnings
The beginning of Eversafe Ranch Thrift Store was simple.
鈥淲ell, we just decide we should open a thrift store one day,鈥� said Ogden.
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鈥淲e used to do garage sales to make money to help families, and then we got so much stuff we didn鈥檛 know what to do with it. So we thought, why not open a thrift store?鈥�
The garage sales, fundraisers for Eversafe Ranch Outreach Society, were how Ogden and Daser met. Daser had started the charity with her husband Alan in 2008. By 2011, Daser and Ogden had the donations they needed to start the thrift store.
When asked what they鈥檒l miss most, Daser and Ogden said it would be the people that visit their store.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had some fun times here,鈥� said Daser.
鈥淪ome crazy times,鈥� said Ogden.
鈥淪ome great people,鈥� said Daser.
鈥淪ome crazy people,鈥� said Ogden. 鈥淏ut then they became our friends.鈥�
They laugh.
鈥淭he biggest thing that I鈥檝e learned is not to judge,鈥� said Ogden. 鈥淵ou never know a person鈥檚 circumstances, where they鈥檝e been and where they鈥檙e going.鈥�
December 22, the store鈥檚 last day, will be a sad one for both Daser and Ogden. But for now, they have work to do and people to help.
If you want to drop by the thrift store to say hello, or goodbye, they鈥檙e located at 5641 176A Street in downtown Cloverdale.
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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