November 15, 2025 • 23 mins
As resale sites grow in popularity, Second Serve Resale, based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, is standing out. Not only is it connecting customers with gently loved designer offerings, but owner Amy Hebb is taking it one step further: customers choose which charity receives 85% of the purchase price, ranging from local food banks to international women's organizations! Amy talks about her efforts, and sustainable fashion, with Nichole on this week's episode.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each week right here we come together we
talk about all the topics important to you and the
place where you live. Thanks for joining us again this week.
I'm Nicole Davis. Doing good and giving back to the
community is important, but doing it while looking fantastic, well
that's even better. In Rhode Island, Amy Hebb is making
(00:29):
that easier than ever with her online nonprofit designer store
is called Second Serve Resale. This is no ordinary online
shopping experience. See Amy is putting the power to give
back in her customer's hands. She gives them the chance
to choose which nonprofit they want to support with their purchase.
And we're not just talking a small margin, We're talking
a lot of support. Let's learn more about this now.
(00:52):
Amy is here on the show to tell us her story.
Thank you so much for the time. I'd like to
learn first more about where the idea came from and
why you decided this was something you want to do well.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I've always been a long time thrifter and garage shale goer.
I went around as a kid with my mother two
yard sales, and when resale went online. I started buying
things online, and around twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, I began
to notice a real uptick in the volume of online
(01:25):
offerings and for profit companies trying to make a go
of resale. And I at that time had the idea,
you know, with a something like closing a commodity that
(01:45):
everybody has in spades, wouldn't it be nice if nonprofits
could get a slice of that, and how would that work?
And so that was one idea. And then I thought, well,
if I could get that to work, what an incentive
And on top of the other incentives to buy resale,
that would be a great incentive to possibly change behavior
(02:08):
with our purchasing and consumption habits for the for the
good of the environment. And so I had that idea.
And I don't have a lot of good ideas, but
I thought it was a good one.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
I would say, yes, be nice to yourself. I'm sure
it's very good.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I'm sure. I mean, I just don't think, like you know,
no one was doing it right. And so I was
working I'm a lawyer. I was working at Legal Services
in Rhode Island at the time, and so anyway, it
was my big idea that I told people about for
a couple of years, and I said, you know, someone
should really do that. And after a while I was like,
(02:46):
maybe I should try it. I mean, the pandemic hit.
My work situation became less fun, going to court by
myself and not really seeing my colleagues, and I was like,
I'm going to do this, and so that is, you know,
like a lot of people had had silver linings from
the pandemic in terms of ideas and stuff. That's kind
(03:09):
of when it all came together. I incorporated in twenty
twenty and got a website up by the next year.
So we're about four years with our online store right now.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Okay, And what was it like putting all this together,
especially during the height of COVID, when things were really
tough all around. What was the process like putting together
your own resale shop?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Well, you know, it was just online. And I said, well,
with the pandemic sort of you know, being loud in
my ear. You know, I didn't want to open an
in person situation. So I thought that, like, this is
obvious if we do this online or if I do
this online. And so what I did was tried to
(04:00):
first decide, you know, how is this going to look
like as a business and how am I going to
make it a reality in terms of online And I
had a couple of people help me. Someone helped me
with setting up a Shopify store, so I use that
(04:21):
as a platform for my online store. And then I
had found another friend through a friend contact, who helped
me with a kind of thinking about a logo and
things like that, and that was you know, done through Zoom.
I never met those guys, in fact, one of them
I still haven't met in person. But the big Shopified
computer guide I love that. But I did manage you know,
(04:45):
the logo guy Justin Kerr, who's fabulous. I did finally
meet him. I'm like, I can't believe it's been this long.
But uh so they helped me out and then at
you know, I started with my own closet, and then
I reached out to people from work, other lawyers, and
I said, do you have anything you want to donate?
(05:05):
And so, you know, my closet was basically mediums. It
was a small sampling and you know, what you do
is just you know, take pictures, take measurements, write a description,
upload these, upload the pictures and pop them up and
you know, using a platform like Shopify, they sort of
(05:26):
figure out the payment structure and things like that. You know,
I set up a non five oh one C three,
you know, through the I R S. I you know,
figured out the policies, privacy policies and all that stuff.
So it took some doing, but it was a good
time to really think about all those things. During you know,
(05:49):
twenty twenty I was home and that that's when it
all sort of came to be. And and so each
year we've uh tried to give more money to nonprofits.
You know. The concept is that in our online store,
(06:12):
if you buy something that you buy a sweater for
one hundred dollars, you pick a nonprofit from our list.
That's kind of fluctuated, but right now I've got eighteen
on there across the country, and you decide where you
want eighty five percent of the proceeds to go. So
if you buy one hundred dollars sweater and you pick
(06:33):
you know, meals on Wheels in Rhode Island, they're going
to get eighty five dollars. And so every month I'd
send out checks and that's how it goes. It's a
volunteer situation. Right right, I've not on a payroll, it's
not that size. And so I did this out of
my house. I you know, a friend helped me and
(06:54):
put stuff in her house. I got a storage unit
and then it got too big, and so last year
I found an actual workspace and Hope artist Village in
Patucket in Rhode Island, and so now I'm working out
of there. And now, you know, for the first time,
I'm offering some in person shopping opportunities, whereas before it
(07:17):
was just online.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
That's wonderful. I mean, I'm looking at all of this apparel.
This is this is designer stuff. It's not like you're
just going to TJ Max or whatever and taking stuff
off of a rack. This is actually really well known names.
So you're really putting a lot of effort into curating
this story as well.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yes, you know, it takes some time to put this
stuff up there. So I'm you know, all of it's
from donors. I mean, I've got fantastic group of donors
and the that group is growing all the time, and
so people bring me things and you know, I sort
of make a priority. I kind of start with the
most expensive resale and that is not an exact science,
(07:59):
but I find that out from the internet what things
are basically going for, and you know, kind of work
my way down. Now that I have an in person store,
I can offer more of a price range, but the
online store is really going to be fifty and above.
And I just you know, work along trying to put
(08:21):
as many things as I cannot. And you know, at
the end of the day, I'm hoping that the people
who donate up to us become the buyers, and the
buyers also become donators, because the whole point is to
really you know, look at your closet and you know,
donate what you don't need and hopefully it's used. But
(08:41):
then when you repopulate your closet, it is my wish
that you know, you choose resale and it's a success
if you choose resale, whether you've go impact a second
server or you go someplace else. I'm trying to convert
people and normalize that choice because of the all the
(09:04):
problems that you know, consumption has uh made for us,
for the planet, the waste, like if we're overflowed with
clothing right now, and the the you know, the textile
in the fashion industry really produce a lot of waste
while they make clothes. After they make clothes, they certainly
(09:26):
use a lot of energy. You know. The what they
pay garment workers is you know, not a living wage,
and you know, people are It's a system that is
built around profit and so that is the main priority.
It's an unregulated industry, so it's hard to sort of say, well,
(09:52):
you know, stop doing that. There's there's no mechanism there.
You know, in general terms, there's some places have Europe
has a few more regulations than we do. The state
of California has a few more regulations than the federal government,
but really there's it's unchecked and so it's a tremendous
(10:13):
problem for the planet. And what I'm just trying to
do is to get people to buy resale, but also
create a mechanism where the transaction, the resale transaction is maximized,
so you know, nonprofits are getting a boost at the
same time and just sort of you know, create a
(10:36):
win win situation all the way around for the buyer,
also for the donor because they see how far the
you know, the donation is really going for nonprofits, and
then you know, for the environment, for you know, have
a buying situation that's fun and you know, leave the
environment out of it. And that's what you know. So
(11:00):
I'm hoping, you know, catches fire and it is something
that can you know, be more normalized. And I think,
you know, resale is just booming and it would be
nice to have a way to you know, maximize this
(11:21):
this situation not just for for profit companies, but for
nonprofits as well.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Yeah, and you've got a lot of New England nonprofits
that you're working with. I mean, you're based in Rhode
Island and you've got a great list here. You've got
Save the Bay, you've got Meals on Wheels, Girls on
the Run. But then you're you're also working here in
Massachusetts with love Lane. You've got New England Science and
Sailing in Connecticut, the main Animal Health Alliance. So you're
not just working in one New England state. You are
(11:51):
working not just around the region either. You're sending money
to places like Guatemala in California. So this is a
really big deal.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yes, it is. You know, we are a national organization
based in Rhode Island. Of course we have Rhode Island
nonprofits because that's where I mean, I started with the
contacts that I have here. And but when people pick,
like I think they look for you know, where they live,
and they also so I want to a geographic variety,
(12:23):
and then I also want to have a variety in
terms of programming, whether it's you know, the main Animal
Health Alliance or you know, food pantry in Atlanta and
San Francisco, or you know, indigenous women and girls in Guatemala.
So to have some sort of selection and so people have,
(12:48):
you know, we have a choice, and I think I'm
a believer that it's that this is that this can
change behavior because if you have agency to make that selection,
I think that shows consumers, like you know what I
what I do, My choices are actually pretty important. If
(13:09):
I can send eighty five dollars to black girls sew
or the invisible food pantry, like that's that's not nothing.
That's a big deal, you know. So I'm hoping that
you know, that is I think that the impact is
(13:29):
real and I do, and whether it's from you know,
my my own experience sort of dealing with individuals, the
relationships between donors and buyers and nonprofits and talking to
people or just looking at you know, how much we
give away and you know, to date we've given away
about fifty thousand dollars to nonprofits and it's just from
(13:53):
people buying stuff that they like and they want.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
And look, it's eighty five percent of the proceeds. How
are you able to keep all this going? I mean, again,
that is incredibly selfless and thoughtful because again that is
a big chunk of money. But how does the operation
survive on fifteen percent of the proceeds?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes, I know, right, So you know I decided that
and you know, there are some people and maybe they're right,
you know, like that's kind of crazy, but I was like,
let's just do this. Let's just let's make this impact.
You know, I think that it is a lot of
money that goes to the nonprofit. And before we had
(14:35):
a space, our costs were really not high. You know,
it's volunteer. It's just me. I've had a you know,
a good friend helped me along the way, and some
and some other volunteers. But it is you know, working
out of our homes and you know, working on the computer.
(14:57):
You know. In terms of packaging and things like that,
like we had packaging, we mostly use like you know,
old Amazon bags, like there's a lot of this stuff
floating around, you know that we can operate with and
keep the cost down, but we are significant costs now
is when is paying rent in a new space. But
(15:18):
what we've done is opened up the shop to have
money come to us through in person sales in when
you know, we have limited hours and it's by appointment,
but the eighty five percent comes from the online sales.
(15:39):
And that's what we're trying to build up. But now
we can open up our store to receive money ourselves
to help us buy our bills and our main bills
rent at this point. Last year, you know, we sent
out an appeal letter to our family and friends to
if you want to support us, we're going to have rent.
You know, we want to keep this going. We need
to you know, if the volume's high enough we can
(16:02):
we'll be able to break even. And we're not quite
there yet, but we're close, and this year we'll send
out another appeal, but we'll get there. I'm confident. I'm
confident as more people know about us and come and
chop in person, that we'll be able to even that
out of it.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I think so. And what I also really appreciate about
what you're doing is your sewing circle, because I feel like,
you know, you see the local libraries around up here
where people come together, and you've got fixing days where
people bring all their stuff from mending days however you
want to call it. I really appreciate the fact that
you are giving people a place to come and mend
(16:39):
their clothing, because we live in such a fast fashioned world,
as you touched on a couple of minutes ago, we
are throwing out so much clothing and it's not like
it can go anywhere. But sometimes all you need is
just to sew a quick patch on something or you know,
and you can even do it in a way where
you don't even see it. Tell me a little bit
about your efforts in this regard.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Oh my gosh, it's been so joyful. So a couple
people in the second serve community, donors and buyers friends
of mine, were just like, you know, do you have
any other people sort of mentioning that they would like
to do some repairs, And so there were a couple
of people and I said, yeah, let's do it. You know,
I think I have room in the shop. We can
(17:19):
get people together. And then I got the word out
and then there was way too many people interested to
do in my little shop, and so it's held at
my church, Central Congregational Church and Providence and we meet there.
And what that is is people come with their things
that they want to repair. People come and maybe it's
(17:44):
not so I maybe it's like knitting. It's really anyone
who wants to come. Ken. There's some people who come
and just kind of, you know, look around. At first.
We try to have like little tutorials and things like that.
And the other thing is that you know, sometimes I
get donations that need a little TLC. There's a hem
coming out of the of a part of a skirt
(18:07):
not and people will help me with that. But you know,
the end result with the objective for that was to
do exactly what you said, is just to get these
closes back in use. But the unexpected joy that has
come from that is the community aspect of being around people,
(18:27):
meeting people in person, you know, like that is a
big deal. I mean not a lot of people. You know,
you get busy with your life and your phone in
your computer and when you get out to sort of
actually meet people, and so it's just been really fun
and I have to say, it's you know, second serve
in general, and there's this byproduct of getting to know
(18:50):
people and whether it's that sewing circle, whether it's a
you know, I had a this gentleman from Cape cod
who's white passed recently who brought me her collection of
clothing and just sort of you know, people working through
grief and it's just been very touching and you know,
it has been a blessing, this sort of unexpected part
(19:13):
of this which is really everything, and it fuels me,
energizes me. So you know, I'm very happy at what
seconds serve, the impact it's having in terms of the environment,
in terms of helping the nonprofits. But there's this community
aspect of it and it's very apparent in sewing circle,
but also with these other interactions. It is just joyful
(19:36):
and you know, you get to meet nice people, You
have great conversations, and I you know, I'm learning I
use a needle and thread, I'm very slowly using the
sewing machine. The people there to help me. We also
do visible mending, which is super fun, using embroidery to
fixed holes and sweaters, but being a little more creative,
(19:56):
like you know, there's no right or wrong way to
do that. You just have fun with it, so it's
all good.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Look as somebody who doesn't even know how to use
a sewing machine herself, I can crochet a square and
I can sort of use a needle in thread. So
the fact that you have such an affirming place right
where people can come and say, I want to do this,
but I really have no idea what I'm doing, and
it's okay because we're all learning together, right, we all
have the same idea.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
It's all levels or no skill at all. You are
welcome and we just have fun, have tea and eat stuff.
You know. It's just like it's really I hope people
check it out. Yeah, I mean you can find out
on the website. You know, all the info is there. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I was going to say it meets over at the
Central Congregational Church over in Providence, and you've got a
couple of these coming up here, and especially as we
get into winter, it's going to be cozy and cold
and you're going to want that nice warm tea and
some sort of warm snack. Because I feel like that's
that's why I kind of love the fiber arts, right,
(21:02):
because it's just like it's all about being cozy and
this is the perfect topic.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yes, yes, and I think you know, we don't really
meet in the summer that much, but you know in
the it's tough in the winter. So like having those
things to look forward to and just have a little
structure to your Saturday, get out there and you know,
hang out with some other people. For sure, it's fun.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Well let's talk about then how people can get access
to this great catalog of yours that you've got. So
Second Serve what is your website? Are you on social media?
So on and so forth?
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yeah, so it's Second Serve resale dot org RG that's
our website. And you know, you can buy stuff off
the website if you are local and you know close
to you know, in southern mass or wherever, you know,
you want to drive to Petucket and come visit in
the shop where you can try things on. We have
(21:59):
more things in the shop and sort of a greater
price range in the shop, like I was saying before,
we're able to you know, this stuff I'm working on
is there. It's priced and just kind of waiting to
be put on the online store. So you can visit
the website at seconds Offresale dot org, or you can
(22:21):
come to Hope Artist Village in Patucket. That's where I'm located,
which is on Main Street, and that is that's on
the website as well. Instagram is a great place to
find me. It's at second dot serve, dot resale, and
I'm open my hours. We have limited hours, so when
(22:43):
every Wednesday tend to I'm open and then on Saturdays,
but the hours are kind of different. On Saturdays, it
was going to be ten to two, but I'm at
sow In Circle ten to twelve on some Saturdays, so
it's kind of not consistent on Saturdays, but it is
on Wednesday. If you happen to have time and a
working people, that's not a reality. But in addition to that,
(23:08):
I'm always available, always available by appointment. I live right
up the street in the Tucket and usually down there anyway.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Beautiful, all right, Second Serveresale dot org. Amy, what a
cool idea, and thanks so much for putting this together
and getting all this money out to nonprofits that, especially
these days, really really need it. I wish you all
the best and all the success.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Oh, thank you so much, Nicole. It's been a treat
to talk to you. And thank you for having me on.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each week right here we come together we
talk about all the topics important to you and the
place where you live. Thanks for joining us again this week.
I'm Nicole Davis. Doing good and giving back to the
community is important, but doing it while looking fantastic, well
that's even better. In Rhode Island, Amy Hebb is making
(00:29):
that easier than ever with her online nonprofit designer store
is called Second Serve Resale. This is no ordinary online
shopping experience. See Amy is putting the power to give
back in her customer's hands. She gives them the chance
to choose which nonprofit they want to support with their purchase.
And we're not just talking a small margin, We're talking
a lot of support. Let's learn more about this now.
(00:52):
Amy is here on the show to tell us her story.
Thank you so much for the time. I'd like to
learn first more about where the idea came from and
why you decided this was something you want to do well.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I've always been a long time thrifter and garage shale goer.
I went around as a kid with my mother two
yard sales, and when resale went online. I started buying
things online, and around twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, I began
to notice a real uptick in the volume of online
(01:25):
offerings and for profit companies trying to make a go
of resale. And I at that time had the idea,
you know, with a something like closing a commodity that
(01:45):
everybody has in spades, wouldn't it be nice if nonprofits
could get a slice of that, and how would that work?
And so that was one idea. And then I thought, well,
if I could get that to work, what an incentive
And on top of the other incentives to buy resale,
that would be a great incentive to possibly change behavior
(02:08):
with our purchasing and consumption habits for the for the
good of the environment. And so I had that idea.
And I don't have a lot of good ideas, but
I thought it was a good one.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
I would say, yes, be nice to yourself. I'm sure
it's very good.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I'm sure. I mean, I just don't think, like you know,
no one was doing it right. And so I was
working I'm a lawyer. I was working at Legal Services
in Rhode Island at the time, and so anyway, it
was my big idea that I told people about for
a couple of years, and I said, you know, someone
should really do that. And after a while I was like,
(02:46):
maybe I should try it. I mean, the pandemic hit.
My work situation became less fun, going to court by
myself and not really seeing my colleagues, and I was like,
I'm going to do this, and so that is, you know,
like a lot of people had had silver linings from
the pandemic in terms of ideas and stuff. That's kind
(03:09):
of when it all came together. I incorporated in twenty
twenty and got a website up by the next year.
So we're about four years with our online store right now.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Okay, And what was it like putting all this together,
especially during the height of COVID, when things were really
tough all around. What was the process like putting together
your own resale shop?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Well, you know, it was just online. And I said, well,
with the pandemic sort of you know, being loud in
my ear. You know, I didn't want to open an
in person situation. So I thought that, like, this is
obvious if we do this online or if I do
this online. And so what I did was tried to
(04:00):
first decide, you know, how is this going to look
like as a business and how am I going to
make it a reality in terms of online And I
had a couple of people help me. Someone helped me
with setting up a Shopify store, so I use that
(04:21):
as a platform for my online store. And then I
had found another friend through a friend contact, who helped
me with a kind of thinking about a logo and
things like that, and that was you know, done through Zoom.
I never met those guys, in fact, one of them
I still haven't met in person. But the big Shopified
computer guide I love that. But I did manage you know,
(04:45):
the logo guy Justin Kerr, who's fabulous. I did finally
meet him. I'm like, I can't believe it's been this long.
But uh so they helped me out and then at
you know, I started with my own closet, and then
I reached out to people from work, other lawyers, and
I said, do you have anything you want to donate?
(05:05):
And so, you know, my closet was basically mediums. It
was a small sampling and you know, what you do
is just you know, take pictures, take measurements, write a description,
upload these, upload the pictures and pop them up and
you know, using a platform like Shopify, they sort of
(05:26):
figure out the payment structure and things like that. You know,
I set up a non five oh one C three,
you know, through the I R S. I you know,
figured out the policies, privacy policies and all that stuff.
So it took some doing, but it was a good
time to really think about all those things. During you know,
(05:49):
twenty twenty I was home and that that's when it
all sort of came to be. And and so each
year we've uh tried to give more money to nonprofits.
You know. The concept is that in our online store,
(06:12):
if you buy something that you buy a sweater for
one hundred dollars, you pick a nonprofit from our list.
That's kind of fluctuated, but right now I've got eighteen
on there across the country, and you decide where you
want eighty five percent of the proceeds to go. So
if you buy one hundred dollars sweater and you pick
(06:33):
you know, meals on Wheels in Rhode Island, they're going
to get eighty five dollars. And so every month I'd
send out checks and that's how it goes. It's a
volunteer situation. Right right, I've not on a payroll, it's
not that size. And so I did this out of
my house. I you know, a friend helped me and
(06:54):
put stuff in her house. I got a storage unit
and then it got too big, and so last year
I found an actual workspace and Hope artist Village in
Patucket in Rhode Island, and so now I'm working out
of there. And now, you know, for the first time,
I'm offering some in person shopping opportunities, whereas before it
(07:17):
was just online.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
That's wonderful. I mean, I'm looking at all of this apparel.
This is this is designer stuff. It's not like you're
just going to TJ Max or whatever and taking stuff
off of a rack. This is actually really well known names.
So you're really putting a lot of effort into curating
this story as well.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yes, you know, it takes some time to put this
stuff up there. So I'm you know, all of it's
from donors. I mean, I've got fantastic group of donors
and the that group is growing all the time, and
so people bring me things and you know, I sort
of make a priority. I kind of start with the
most expensive resale and that is not an exact science,
(07:59):
but I find that out from the internet what things
are basically going for, and you know, kind of work
my way down. Now that I have an in person store,
I can offer more of a price range, but the
online store is really going to be fifty and above.
And I just you know, work along trying to put
(08:21):
as many things as I cannot. And you know, at
the end of the day, I'm hoping that the people
who donate up to us become the buyers, and the
buyers also become donators, because the whole point is to
really you know, look at your closet and you know,
donate what you don't need and hopefully it's used. But
(08:41):
then when you repopulate your closet, it is my wish
that you know, you choose resale and it's a success
if you choose resale, whether you've go impact a second
server or you go someplace else. I'm trying to convert
people and normalize that choice because of the all the
(09:04):
problems that you know, consumption has uh made for us,
for the planet, the waste, like if we're overflowed with
clothing right now, and the the you know, the textile
in the fashion industry really produce a lot of waste
while they make clothes. After they make clothes, they certainly
(09:26):
use a lot of energy. You know. The what they
pay garment workers is you know, not a living wage,
and you know, people are It's a system that is
built around profit and so that is the main priority.
It's an unregulated industry, so it's hard to sort of say, well,
(09:52):
you know, stop doing that. There's there's no mechanism there.
You know, in general terms, there's some places have Europe
has a few more regulations than we do. The state
of California has a few more regulations than the federal government,
but really there's it's unchecked and so it's a tremendous
(10:13):
problem for the planet. And what I'm just trying to
do is to get people to buy resale, but also
create a mechanism where the transaction, the resale transaction is maximized,
so you know, nonprofits are getting a boost at the
same time and just sort of you know, create a
(10:36):
win win situation all the way around for the buyer,
also for the donor because they see how far the
you know, the donation is really going for nonprofits, and
then you know, for the environment, for you know, have
a buying situation that's fun and you know, leave the
environment out of it. And that's what you know. So
(11:00):
I'm hoping, you know, catches fire and it is something
that can you know, be more normalized. And I think,
you know, resale is just booming and it would be
nice to have a way to you know, maximize this
(11:21):
this situation not just for for profit companies, but for
nonprofits as well.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Yeah, and you've got a lot of New England nonprofits
that you're working with. I mean, you're based in Rhode
Island and you've got a great list here. You've got
Save the Bay, you've got Meals on Wheels, Girls on
the Run. But then you're you're also working here in
Massachusetts with love Lane. You've got New England Science and
Sailing in Connecticut, the main Animal Health Alliance. So you're
not just working in one New England state. You are
(11:51):
working not just around the region either. You're sending money
to places like Guatemala in California. So this is a
really big deal.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yes, it is. You know, we are a national organization
based in Rhode Island. Of course we have Rhode Island
nonprofits because that's where I mean, I started with the
contacts that I have here. And but when people pick,
like I think they look for you know, where they live,
and they also so I want to a geographic variety,
(12:23):
and then I also want to have a variety in
terms of programming, whether it's you know, the main Animal
Health Alliance or you know, food pantry in Atlanta and
San Francisco, or you know, indigenous women and girls in Guatemala.
So to have some sort of selection and so people have,
(12:48):
you know, we have a choice, and I think I'm
a believer that it's that this is that this can
change behavior because if you have agency to make that selection,
I think that shows consumers, like you know what I
what I do, My choices are actually pretty important. If
(13:09):
I can send eighty five dollars to black girls sew
or the invisible food pantry, like that's that's not nothing.
That's a big deal, you know. So I'm hoping that
you know, that is I think that the impact is
(13:29):
real and I do, and whether it's from you know,
my my own experience sort of dealing with individuals, the
relationships between donors and buyers and nonprofits and talking to
people or just looking at you know, how much we
give away and you know, to date we've given away
about fifty thousand dollars to nonprofits and it's just from
(13:53):
people buying stuff that they like and they want.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
And look, it's eighty five percent of the proceeds. How
are you able to keep all this going? I mean, again,
that is incredibly selfless and thoughtful because again that is
a big chunk of money. But how does the operation
survive on fifteen percent of the proceeds?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes, I know, right, So you know I decided that
and you know, there are some people and maybe they're right,
you know, like that's kind of crazy, but I was like,
let's just do this. Let's just let's make this impact.
You know, I think that it is a lot of
money that goes to the nonprofit. And before we had
(14:35):
a space, our costs were really not high. You know,
it's volunteer. It's just me. I've had a you know,
a good friend helped me along the way, and some
and some other volunteers. But it is you know, working
out of our homes and you know, working on the computer.
(14:57):
You know. In terms of packaging and things like that,
like we had packaging, we mostly use like you know,
old Amazon bags, like there's a lot of this stuff
floating around, you know that we can operate with and
keep the cost down, but we are significant costs now
is when is paying rent in a new space. But
(15:18):
what we've done is opened up the shop to have
money come to us through in person sales in when
you know, we have limited hours and it's by appointment,
but the eighty five percent comes from the online sales.
(15:39):
And that's what we're trying to build up. But now
we can open up our store to receive money ourselves
to help us buy our bills and our main bills
rent at this point. Last year, you know, we sent
out an appeal letter to our family and friends to
if you want to support us, we're going to have rent.
You know, we want to keep this going. We need
to you know, if the volume's high enough we can
(16:02):
we'll be able to break even. And we're not quite
there yet, but we're close, and this year we'll send
out another appeal, but we'll get there. I'm confident. I'm
confident as more people know about us and come and
chop in person, that we'll be able to even that
out of it.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I think so. And what I also really appreciate about
what you're doing is your sewing circle, because I feel like,
you know, you see the local libraries around up here
where people come together, and you've got fixing days where
people bring all their stuff from mending days however you
want to call it. I really appreciate the fact that
you are giving people a place to come and mend
(16:39):
their clothing, because we live in such a fast fashioned world,
as you touched on a couple of minutes ago, we
are throwing out so much clothing and it's not like
it can go anywhere. But sometimes all you need is
just to sew a quick patch on something or you know,
and you can even do it in a way where
you don't even see it. Tell me a little bit
about your efforts in this regard.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Oh my gosh, it's been so joyful. So a couple
people in the second serve community, donors and buyers friends
of mine, were just like, you know, do you have
any other people sort of mentioning that they would like
to do some repairs, And so there were a couple
of people and I said, yeah, let's do it. You know,
I think I have room in the shop. We can
(17:19):
get people together. And then I got the word out
and then there was way too many people interested to
do in my little shop, and so it's held at
my church, Central Congregational Church and Providence and we meet there.
And what that is is people come with their things
that they want to repair. People come and maybe it's
(17:44):
not so I maybe it's like knitting. It's really anyone
who wants to come. Ken. There's some people who come
and just kind of, you know, look around. At first.
We try to have like little tutorials and things like that.
And the other thing is that you know, sometimes I
get donations that need a little TLC. There's a hem
coming out of the of a part of a skirt
(18:07):
not and people will help me with that. But you know,
the end result with the objective for that was to
do exactly what you said, is just to get these
closes back in use. But the unexpected joy that has
come from that is the community aspect of being around people,
(18:27):
meeting people in person, you know, like that is a
big deal. I mean not a lot of people. You know,
you get busy with your life and your phone in
your computer and when you get out to sort of
actually meet people, and so it's just been really fun
and I have to say, it's you know, second serve
in general, and there's this byproduct of getting to know
(18:50):
people and whether it's that sewing circle, whether it's a
you know, I had a this gentleman from Cape cod
who's white passed recently who brought me her collection of
clothing and just sort of you know, people working through
grief and it's just been very touching and you know,
it has been a blessing, this sort of unexpected part
(19:13):
of this which is really everything, and it fuels me,
energizes me. So you know, I'm very happy at what
seconds serve, the impact it's having in terms of the environment,
in terms of helping the nonprofits. But there's this community
aspect of it and it's very apparent in sewing circle,
but also with these other interactions. It is just joyful
(19:36):
and you know, you get to meet nice people, You
have great conversations, and I you know, I'm learning I
use a needle and thread, I'm very slowly using the
sewing machine. The people there to help me. We also
do visible mending, which is super fun, using embroidery to
fixed holes and sweaters, but being a little more creative,
(19:56):
like you know, there's no right or wrong way to
do that. You just have fun with it, so it's
all good.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Look as somebody who doesn't even know how to use
a sewing machine herself, I can crochet a square and
I can sort of use a needle in thread. So
the fact that you have such an affirming place right
where people can come and say, I want to do this,
but I really have no idea what I'm doing, and
it's okay because we're all learning together, right, we all
have the same idea.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
It's all levels or no skill at all. You are
welcome and we just have fun, have tea and eat stuff.
You know. It's just like it's really I hope people
check it out. Yeah, I mean you can find out
on the website. You know, all the info is there. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
I was going to say it meets over at the
Central Congregational Church over in Providence, and you've got a
couple of these coming up here, and especially as we
get into winter, it's going to be cozy and cold
and you're going to want that nice warm tea and
some sort of warm snack. Because I feel like that's
that's why I kind of love the fiber arts, right,
(21:02):
because it's just like it's all about being cozy and
this is the perfect topic.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yes, yes, and I think you know, we don't really
meet in the summer that much, but you know in
the it's tough in the winter. So like having those
things to look forward to and just have a little
structure to your Saturday, get out there and you know,
hang out with some other people. For sure, it's fun.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Well let's talk about then how people can get access
to this great catalog of yours that you've got. So
Second Serve what is your website? Are you on social media?
So on and so forth?
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yeah, so it's Second Serve resale dot org RG that's
our website. And you know, you can buy stuff off
the website if you are local and you know close
to you know, in southern mass or wherever, you know,
you want to drive to Petucket and come visit in
the shop where you can try things on. We have
(21:59):
more things in the shop and sort of a greater
price range in the shop, like I was saying before,
we're able to you know, this stuff I'm working on
is there. It's priced and just kind of waiting to
be put on the online store. So you can visit
the website at seconds Offresale dot org, or you can
(22:21):
come to Hope Artist Village in Patucket. That's where I'm located,
which is on Main Street, and that is that's on
the website as well. Instagram is a great place to
find me. It's at second dot serve, dot resale, and
I'm open my hours. We have limited hours, so when
(22:43):
every Wednesday tend to I'm open and then on Saturdays,
but the hours are kind of different. On Saturdays, it
was going to be ten to two, but I'm at
sow In Circle ten to twelve on some Saturdays, so
it's kind of not consistent on Saturdays, but it is
on Wednesday. If you happen to have time and a
working people, that's not a reality. But in addition to that,
(23:08):
I'm always available, always available by appointment. I live right
up the street in the Tucket and usually down there anyway.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Beautiful, all right, Second Serveresale dot org. Amy, what a
cool idea, and thanks so much for putting this together
and getting all this money out to nonprofits that, especially
these days, really really need it. I wish you all
the best and all the success.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Oh, thank you so much, Nicole. It's been a treat
to talk to you. And thank you for having me on.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio
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