Harry Graser

Government 12R

Ward

27 February 2014

Community Service Project – Essay

I completed my community service at the Salvation Army thrift store. The

Salvation Army is a charitable organization founded in 1865 in London. It was founded

in order to benefit the poor, homeless, and hungry through a network of charity shops,

shelters, and disaster relief groups. It currently exists in 126 countries, and is organized

in a military manner, with various territories and divisions. It is one of the largest

providers of social aid in the entire world, helping more than 32 million people in the

United States. In the US, it is the second-largest charity. Worldwide, it is comprised of

more than 4.5 million volunteers.

The Salvation Army arrived in Buffalo in 1884, holding its first meeting in

Lafayette Square. There are multiple locations (including thrift stores) across the city. In

1944, the Buffalo operation served 175 gallons of coffee as well as thousands of donuts,

along with garments for the troops and counseling for their families.

At the thrift store, I worked alongside the regular employees, completing many of

the same tasks. These focused mainly on the organization of donated merchandise. One

task consisted of sorting through large shopping carts filled with housewares and “bric-a-

brac.” These many and varied items were to be placed on the shelves with some

semblance of organization, which was sometimes difficult given their varied and unique

nature. Certain items required input from employees, for example, the placement of

knives and Betamax tapes. Many of these items, upon initial inspection, seemed

pointless to sell, let alone donate, until one considers the function of the Salvation Army

to serve anyone it can. Another task involved sorting through clothing bins, placing the

items on racks for men, women, and children, in preparation for placement in the store.

This task, while more menial than the housewares, afforded the opportunity to observe

varying fashion trends. Some of the clothes clearly belonged to the deceased, lending a

somewhat morbid quality to the work. Furthermore, being in the back room, it offered a

respite from the tedium of Star 102.5, a station obviously selected for its mass appeal, yet

maddening in its repetition. After the clothes were sorted, I helped place them on the

racks in the store, organized by color and style. The employees kindly answered any

questions I had in this regard; even the customers. One day, I was asked to remove

clothes marked with a blue tag, because they were due to be moved to another store to

make more room. This resulted in an amusing game of trying to figure out how many

clothes hangers could fit in a recycled banana box. A similar game occurred when

moving furniture, except this required more physical strength and less dexterity.

During my service, I encountered several other people in (roughly) the same

position, although they were completing their service as part of a court sentence. I

resisted the urge to ask about their crimes. They were mostly young men, except for one

smartly attired woman in her 30s, who completed her work in much the same manner.

My service at the thrift store proved to be helpful, as several of the employees

commented, which is unsurprising given the amount of work that needs to be done there

everyday. As far as myself, I realized that this work is completely necessary for a

charitable organization to function. It is not always glamorous or rewarding, but it is for

the “greater good,” and is especially beneficial when one considers the function of the

Salvation Army within the community and the world. The money raised by the store

goes directly into the community and into further activities sponsored by the

organization. At many times, it was a sobering reminder of the poverty that occurs

everywhere. Many of the customers were extremely friendly, especially the “regulars,”

some with large families, and some who came by themselves. Despite coming from a

variety of income levels, most of them appeared to be on the lower end of the scale. This

is to be expected at a thrift shop; still, it offered a glimpse of a population that the average

suburbanite is not accustomed to seeing. The value of places like this store, as well as the

organizations that run them, was emphasized during my service, which was in every way

meaningful.