Group extends life's necessities
More volunteers and space needed
By Eliav Appelbaum Acorn Staff Writer

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers HAPPY TO HELP- In the Christians Acting Together thrift shop, from left, Gladys Walker and Marie Bergdahl of Camarillo help Angela Gotlin of Simi Valley with her purchases. The thrift store is at 71 S. Glenn Drive in Camarillo. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Its work started on the front lawn of the Camarillo House.

Today, Christians Acting Together continues to give in the same spirit as it did 37 years ago, but now it operates a modest thrift store on South Glen Drive.

Like many nonprofit groups, the association needs more recruits than ever, as it functions entirely with an all-volunteer work force.

"We've got to keep going," said Gladys Walker, the manager of the group's thrift store for the past 20 years.

Founded in 1970 by Ralph Lovell and Cathy Escalante, the association provides food vouchers for low-income families, usually on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.

To receive vouchers, families must prove that they live in Camarillo or Somis by presenting birth certificates for each child under 18.

The group distributes about $3,000 in food vouchers per month.

If a family is enduring a difficult month, the group will pay utility bills and partial rent once a year.

Open Tuesday through Saturday for four hours, Walker and 26 other volunteers operate the thrift store full of clothes, books, furniture and appliances.

Except for the money to run utilities and keep the shop open, all the profits of the store go back into the community.

"They're basically trying to help people in need," said volunteer Marion Roper.

On a recent Friday morning, old fans hummed from every nook and cranny that wasn't occupied by clothes or gadgets in the neatly organized but crowded store.

Four women, all 74 or older, were working in the thrift store without air conditioning.

Walker notes that 55 boxes of winter clothes piled in the back need proper sorting and inspecting for holes or stains.

The clothes will go on hangers with tags before being offered for sale to the public.

"We'll take anything people bring," Walker said.

Many boxes that will be sorted later in the year are specially marked for seasons and holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine's Day.

What the group can't sell or use- such as broken electrical items that require maintenance- go to the Cancer Federation in Banning.

While the store accepts many donations, the association is still in need of more volunteers, more space and better means to receive larger items- like beds and other furniture- into the store.

"We used to pick up furniture, but the guy who drove the truck for us was getting too old," Walker said. "We're looking for somebody who drives a truck. And it's not like we need that person to work every day. Just a couple hours. . . . Everybody needs a volunteer, even if it's for a couple of hours. Just two hours can help."

Walker, born and raised near Flint, Mich., moved to Camarillo in 1967 from Chicago. She started volunteering for the group in 1973 twice a week, but it soon turned into a full-time job.

Walker, now 81, used to volunteer at a local hospital, a local girls school and for Meals on Wheels, but now the thrift store takes up all of her time.

The group finds volunteers in local church bulletins, but Walker has a hard time attracting competent or younger volunteers.

"We need volunteers, but I have to screen them now," Walker said.

"For some, all they want to do is shop. I need people that want to work."

Meals on Wheels, another nonprofit that runs entirely on the force of unpaid volunteers, is also in need of new recruits. Located near the association on Ventura Boulevard, Meals on Wheels has been aiding Camarillo residents for 13 years, but, with only six workers, the organization can't even afford a phone.

Roper works Friday mornings at the association before trekking in the afternoon to Meals on Wheels, where she has volunteered for 13 years.

Among her various philanthropic work, Roper also helps out with Friends of the Camarillo Library and writes the garden tour description for the Hospice Garden Tour that runs January through May.

"It keeps me off the street," Roper quipped.

Originally from Perth, Australia, Roper moved to the Naval Air Station in the Mojave Desert in 1946. Roper, now 88, settled in Camarillo in 1947.

Local residents peruse the items in the thrift store, many stopping by to chat with Walker and the other volunteers.

"They have many nice things," said shopper Freeta Simons of Camarillo.

"Why should I go to the department store when I can find nice things here? It's so clean. It's like new. It's also for a good cause."

For more information about Christians Acting Together, call (805) 484-1254.

For more information about Meals on Wheels, contact Jane Griffin at 2220 Ventura Boulevard.