Ye Olde Rummage Shoppe vital to the community but needs its help with keeping donation area behind store clean

The volunteers who keep Ye Olde Rummage Shoppe staffed are, from right to left: Pam Cabello, Bonnie Good, El Donna Mosier, Stella Figueroa, Punkin Kalani, Emilia Lynn, Annabelle Munez, Jo Ann Orozco, and Loretta Johnson.  In front of the group is Amari Perkins, who is the great-granddaughter of John and Annabelle Munez.  Loretta Johnson,  John and Annabelle Munez and Dave Harbour are Board members for the non-profit store. John Munez and Dave Harbour aren’t pictured.

Ye Olde Rummage Shoppe at 121 North Main Street in Lamar has, for many years, been a source for good used clothing, shoes and small household items at very reasonable prices.  The store, a designated Colorado Nonprofit Corporation and run solely by volunteers, serves the community with proceeds from sales of their items.  The shop accepts clean used clothing and shoes in good condition, gently used small toys, small home décor items, framed pictures, costume jewelry, books and glassware, the proceeds from which benefit the community in several ways. Each Christmas, the store donates $5,000-7,000 to Southeastern Developmental Services as well as making sure that each client gets at least two presents. They have also been able to offer financial aid to needy residents in times of emergencies.

Families with children going back to school can benefit from a rack of kids’ clothing marked at 50% off, something the store offers each year during the month of August. Those with little ones who outgrow clothes quickly can purchase them at prices much lower than at a retail store.  Donated winter coats and gently used adult clothing have long been a blessing for many.  John Munez, a Board member of the nonprofit, described to me the happy face of a woman who recently came in with only $20 to spend and left with a large bag of clothing she otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford.  I was invited by Munez to take a tour of the store and see all that it has to offer. It is clean and well-organized, with clothing sorted into ladies, men’s and children’s areas, all carefully arranged by size and style.  There are even sections devoted to prom dresses and sports shoes and equipment for kids. The walls of the store display neatly arranged shoes, books, knick-knacks and framed pictures.  An area at the back of the store contains clean glassware and other small household items. The volunteers I spoke with that day were cheerful and friendly and it was clear that they enjoy their time at the store and take pride in its appearance and offerings. Loretta Johnson and Bonnie Good have both been volunteering at the store for over 20 years.  Others have been with the store anywhere from  15 years to less than a year, but each one brings their own individual talents to keep the business functioning and flourishing.  There are 2  shifts and each shift works 2 days a week and alternate on Mondays to cover the store 5 days a week.

Interior of the store, showing the neatly displayed and organized items

A large number of shoes are available 

A young girl excitedly choosing her free toy while her grandmother shops nearby.  Kids are allowed to pick one free toy while their family shops in the store

Sadly, the business has been plagued by people dumping items after hours behind the store.  These items being left after hours or on weekends are not neatly placed in bags or boxes, but rather are carelessly strewn around the area causing a huge mess for the volunteers to clean up.  Even items left with good intentions by donors after hours are often either unusable if it rains overnight, or they are scavenged before the store is even able to accept and sell them.  Munez told me that this has been going on “nearly every night and weekend” for quite a while.  The vast majority of items being dumped is trash or things the store can’t accept, including broken items, dirty or torn clothing, used mattresses and furniture. Broken glass frequently presents a safety hazard during the cleanups. The shop is  then forced to dispose of the waste at their own expense.  Munez wonders if much of the debris he has to dispose of is from unsold items from garage sales, as weekends bring large amounts of items, nearly all of which are unusable by the store.  He provided the photos in this article to highlight the problem he and the staff have been routinely dealing with.  “Everyone who works here is a volunteer” Munez said.  “We’re all older – several of us in our 70’s or older and it’s hard physically for the volunteers to clean this mess up continually”.  Munez, who is 80, is one of only a few volunteers physically able to do the cleanup and he’s tired of it and frustrated that it continues. He has asked the Lamar Police Department for their help, and they have agreed to increase evening and nightly patrols of the area and will issue citations to violators.  They told John that he needs to clearly mark the area as “No Dumping” and provide hours of operation to help them enforce this, which he is in the process of doing.

An example of a recent dumping behind the store – this area had been totally cleaned up the afternoon before this photo was taken the next morning.

More photos of the useless items dumped behind the store after hours

As if the large amounts of junk left for shop volunteers to deal with daily isn’t bad enough, the shop’s dumpsters are frequently being utilized by people leaving personal trash there.  Many days the dumpsters are found knocked over and rummaged through, with unwanted items left on the ground (which seems to be a serious issue all along Main Street’s alleys behind businesses).  Recently, volunteers at the store arrived to find their dumpsters filled with old tires. “Every time this happens, we have to call the city for another pickup, which costs us $37 each time” said Annabelle Munez, John’s wife.  This extra added expense takes away money that would have been used by the store to help people and adds up quickly due to the frequency with which the store has to pay it.

John and Annabelle stressed that they want the community to know how thankful they are for donations because they go to such a good cause, but want donors to be aware of and heed the hours for donations.  The store is open Mondays through Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the same hours that donations are accepted .It would be greatly appreciated, however, if donations were taken inside the shop during those hours if possible rather than being dropped off in the alley, due to the potential of legitimate donations being picked up by scavengers before the shop can benefit from them. Donations should be bagged or placed in boxes if left outside during donation hours.  “This community NEEDS the Rummage Shoppe”, John told me. “We are here to give back to the community.  We turn donations into dollars”.

Anyone seeing or knowing of people dumping items behind Ye Olde Rummage Shop in the alley after hours are encouraged to call the Lamar Police Department.  The City of Lamar graciously offers “free landfill weekends” every month, so there is no excuse for people making their trash another person’s problem.  We can do better, Lamar!

By: Barbara Crimond