PICO RIVERA – A chilly Thursday morning found Virginia Aguirre manning the cash register of a small store chock-full of used clothing, shoes and other accessories.
The sign on the door says simply, “Thrift Store.”
As Aguirre rang up one customer’s items, other volunteers sorted the donated goods, one folded clothing and another accepted a bag of donations a woman dropped off.
But the store at 5018 Passons Blvd. isn’t just another thrift shop. It is the main source of funding for the Pico Rivera Christmas Basket Committee, which gives food and toys to needy local families in December and also pays for scholarships at El Rancho High School and Ruben Salazar Continuation High School.
The nonprofit committee needs $25,000 to pay for the holiday baskets and the scholarships.
In addition to sales from the thrift store, the group also gets donations from Northrop Grumman, the local United Auto Workers group, the Lions Club, the Woman’s Club and residents. El Rancho High holds a canned food drive for the Christmas Basket Committee. Another source of food and toys is the “Trick or Treat for Hunger Campaign,” which will be held this Saturday.
Volunteers will be collecting canned goods, unopened toys and non-perishable goods as they go door to door on Saturday morning.
The Christmas Basket Committee was started by Bessie Aguilar in 1977, said Aguirre, who took over the group 15 years ago.
After 40 years of toiling in her career, she wasn’t done working yet.
“I guess I’m a workaholic. I work harder now and I’m not paid. But I love what I do,” Aguirre said.
Last year, the sheriff’s Pico Rivera Station toy drive joined forces with the Christmas Basket Committee. Aguirre said they handed out food and toys to 1,100 families.
This year she thinks it could be at least 1,200.
She said people already started calling in September asking when they can register for the Christmas basket program.
Registration starts Nov. 1. To qualify, you have to live in Pico Rivera and be low income.
John Martinez of Montebello and his sister, Beatrice Sanchez of Pico Rivera, has been volunteering with the committee for a year now.
Martinez, a retired kitchen helper, said his sister has known Aguirre for decades.
Sanchez said she used to stop at the store all the time and later brought her brother. Aguirre asked if they would like to help out.
“I love it here,” Sanchez said, adding that she gave up a part-time job in Montebello.
“I’d rather go back to the thrift store. Everything it does is for the community. I never realized before I started work here how much this is needed.”
She’s seen the results of a battered economy enter through the door; the unemployed and the suddenly homeless.
“We’re getting a lot busier now. We had a girl living in a car and she has four kids. Some people have it really hard,” Sanchez said.
Martinez can be found at the store when it’s open Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“It’s a nice place to work and I wasn’t doing anything at the time,” Martinez said.
“It’s doing something for the community and the people. Helping the needy and the community.”
Alice Perez is in her fourth year as a volunteer for the Christmas Basket Committee. She said some of the people who come to the store have lost jobs and have children.
“They have to come and ask for food for the kids,” Perez said.
“It makes me feel good to help other people and to see smiles on their faces. They’re so grateful.”
A man wearing a baseball cap slowly walked up to the counter. He told the volunteers in Spanish he was an Argentinian and was living on the streets. He needed clothing.
They gave him a bag containing pants and sweat shirts at no charge. He thanked them before leaving.
“(The store) is small but it does what it does. Help the needy,” Aguirre said.
The Thrift Store is located at 5018 Passons Blvd. in Pico Rivera next door to the Chamber of Commerce. Store hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
562-698-0955, ext. 3026
