Upward Way Thrift Store helps those in need

At the thrift store Harold Gentry runs for his church, customers are likely to find just about anything, from clothing and silverware to furniture and electronic equipment.

Customers who lack money are also likely to find Gentry willing to give them for free what they need.

“Sometimes homeless people come in with three or four kids. I say, ‘OK, just take what you need.’ I just let them have it,” he said. “If they need it, I give it to them. If they can pay a little, I take it.”

It was around four years ago that Gentry opened the Upward Way Thrift Store at Upward Seventh-Day Adventist Church after deciding he wanted to do something to help struggling people who might otherwise fall through the cracks.

“I was just talking to the Lord about it and that I wanted to do something,” he said. “It was just an idea that developed over time. I said, ‘Maybe we can fill in an empty gap.’”

Gentry added that he wanted to help people on Social Security who were struggling to make ends meet as well as people that had fallen on hard times and needed a little extra help.

Gentry’s desire for his church to give struggling people a hand up seemed only natural.

“I think it comes from Jesus wanted to help people,” he said. “He wanted Christians to help others.”

Back before the ministry became a reality, Gentry took his idea to the church’s board and received the go ahead.

Upward Way Thrift Store is open on Sundays from 1-4 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4-6 p.m.

Donations are accepted at any time at the store, which is located just behind the church. Gentry said church members and regular customers from the community shop at and donate items to the thrift store.

The store sells small furniture, adult and children’s clothing, silverware, electronic equipment, shoes, coffee pots, dishes and home décor items, among other things. A couple of kitchen stoves have even found their way to the thrift store’s inventory.

Gentry said he has to decline donations of most large appliances, large beds and sometimes the occasional kitchen sink. “If we’ve got room for it, we take it,” he said.

Over the years, Gentry said he has found that there is a continual need for donations of towels and wash cloths. Donations of those items are appreciated, he said.

Gentry said does not keep track of how many people the thrift store has helped during the last four years, though many people have either received free needed items from the store or the money to pay bills from the store’s sales.

Gentry said he tries to set low prices for everything in the thrift store, which usually brings in between $200 and $400 each month.

“Over the years, we have collected enough to make it worthwhile,” Gentry said.

Money raised at the store often goes toward helping people in need pay their rent or power bills or other necessities.

Most people who receive help paying their bills are referred from other agencies while some people come to the store on their own, he said. Gentry refers people with a need greater than $100 to the church board for approval; for people with a need less than $100, he personally determines whether to provide assistance.

Gentry once used funds from the store to help a family find a place to stay overnight.

“It’s things like that we focus on,” Gentry said.

Upward Seventh-Day Adventist Church is located at 961 Upward Road and is led by Pastor John Earnhardt.