This year marks the Eastside Community Aid Thrift Shop’s 30-year anniversary. It all started when a group of 14 neighbors in Bellevue decided to hold a garage sale. The sale went so well that they decided to donate the money to some local charities. The charities were so grateful that the neighbors decided they were on to something. So, on Nov. 19, 1981, the Eastside Community Aid Thrift Shop was officially formed.

Jo Legan was one of those 14 women who helped start ECA. She volunteered at the shop until she became ill. She was the last one of the original women to still work at the shop until her death in January 2004. That is why when she died we decided to start the three Lake Washington Technical College scholarships in her name. We do one engineering and two human service scholarships in honor of her because she was an engineer at Boeing and the Thrift Shop is a human service organization.

The shop started in Redmond and is presently at its fifth location in Kirkland. Today, we have approximately 60 all-volunteer staff members who sort new and used donations, price it and put it on display at the shop’s Totem Lake West store. After paying the rent and bills, the surplus money is then donated back to our Eastside community through non-profit organizations and three Lake Washington Technical College student scholarships. The list of non-profit organizations that have benefited from the shop’s monetary and physical donations is long. We have given money to 74 different organizations. Some are: Eastside Domestic Violence Program, Assistance League of the Eastside, Helping Hands for the Disabled, Hopelink, the Humane Society, Evergreen Hospice, Eastside Medic Response Units, Sibling House, King County Search and Rescue, Eastside Baby Corner and Compassionate Friends.

In February of this year ECA also celebrated reaching a milestone of giving more than $1,000,000 in cash back into our community.

The shop is not affiliated with any church, service club, school or any other organization. It’s something all its own: a group of volunteers, anyone can join who simply want to help make our Eastside community a better place to live.

The volunteers put the best items on display at the shop. The less-than best is passed on to other organizations that can use the items. Nothing goes to waste. Colored tags are put on each item, that way donations are rotated through the shop on a three-month cycle. As a result, the shop is one of the more upscale thrift shops on the Eastside.

In many cases, clothing sales benefit the buyer as much or more than the store. As people lose their jobs, and need a good shirt or jacket for an interview, they can easily find a quality garment for $4 to $10. That same clothing item would be worth 10 times as much new.

All-aged kids love putting together nice school outfits or Halloween costumes at the shop. The quality and rock bottom prices seem to attract almost everyone at one time or another. Eastside Domestic Violence clients come in and each member of their family get three complete outfits along with housewares, and additional supplies if needed. Eyeglasses are donated to the Lion’s Club. Cell phones go to Domestic Violence. Clothes and shoes are passed on to clothing banks. There is a place for all to pass on donations. ECA also is a green business where everything possible is recycled.

To celebrate 30 years in the community, ECA is having an open house with a storewide half-off sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 12-13. ECA is located at 12451 116th Ave. in Kirkland. Contact us at 425-825-1877.

Jody Orbits, ECA president