Secondhand Treasures, Lasting Connections

At Hillcrest Thrift Store in La Verne, volunteers begin the day sorting through boxes of donations and deciding which items to price and place on shelves. Every purchase does more than give an item a new home—it helps support care for local seniors. 

“We hit the ground running for sure,” volunteer Doreen Lamothe said. “Being a thrift store, we never know what we are going to receive.”

Earlier this year, Lamothe’s 93-year-old father fled the Eaton Fire after smoke forced him from the Altadena home where he had lived for more than 50 years. While staying with family as his home was cleaned, he decided it was time to sell his home and find somewhere else to live.

“I immediately thought of Hillcrest,” Lamothe said.

She had long admired the retirement community, often walking and riding bikes through its neighborhood with her husband.

After touring the campus, her father needed little convincing.

“Why look any further? Hillcrest sounds like a perfect place for me,” Lamothe recalled him saying.

His move inspired Lamothe to become part of the Hillcrest community herself. She met Philanthropy Specialist Leslie Duran during Hillcrest’s annual craft fair last fall and soon joined the volunteer team at the Hillcrest Thrift Store.

Now she spends her shifts sorting donations and helping customers, work that supports Hillcrest’s Good Samaritan Fund, which provides skilled nursing care for low-income seniors.

The thrift store, originally known as the Benevolent Shop, opened in 1967 after three Hillcrest residents created a place where new residents could donate belongings they no longer needed. Over the decades, the shop has moved several times before settling into its current location on B Street in 2017.

Today the volunteer-run store has become both a neighborhood bargain destination and a source of funding for Hillcrest’s mission.

“The Thrift Store continues to generate funds to assist vulnerable community members, playing a vital role in Hillcrest’s mission of care and service,” Duran said.

A typical morning begins before the doors open with shoppers already waiting outside. Volunteers sort donations, price clothing and household goods, arrange displays and help customers throughout the day. Items that cannot be sold are prepared for pickup by a veterans organization.

Duran said volunteers are always needed, particularly people who can help with heavier items.

For Peggy Redman, volunteering at the thrift store has been a way to continue serving the community she has been connected to for decades.

Redman spent 52 years in education. She began her career teaching gifted elementary and middle school students  before earning her doctorate. She later served as director of education for 30 years at the University of La Verne.

“I knew I was always going to come to Hillcrest,” Redman said. “My mother had been here, and many, many aunts and uncles and everybody really appreciated the wonderful families here at Hillcrest.”

Redman moved to Hillcrest with her husband, a lawyer whose estate planning work helped me recognize the value of the community. Her husband later worked at the thrift store before dying of Alzheimer’s disease.

Redman began volunteering at the thrift store about 12 years ago and found a new way to connect with the community.

She and another longtime volunteer, Wanda Hines, help lead the store's volunteer efforts while working under Duran and Scott Snider, Hillcrest’s director of philanthropy.

Redman said the store brings in more than $50,000 annually, with proceeds helping support seniors who have exhausted their financial resources.

“It’s kind of a passion, I think, for those of us who are involved there and making it a really nice experience for people when they come,” Redman said.

Snider said the funds help cover the cost of care for seniors at Hillcrest’s Woods Health Services when Medi-Cal reimbursements fall short.

Last year, Hillcrest provided more than $370,000 in charity care through the Good Samaritan Fund, Snider said. Without the fund, those costs would fall to Hillcrest’s general fund, which residents ultimately support through monthly fees.

Beyond raising money, Duran said the thrift store gives volunteers and customers a place to build relationships.

“We get a lot of the same people, and once in a while we get someone new, and then they become a part of the same people,” Redman said.

Hillcrest Thrift Store
2575 B St., La Verne, CA 91750
(909) 392-4309
Open Mondays and Thursdays 8 a.m.-noon

Learn more about Hillcrest Thrift Store

For more information or to volunteer, please contact Leslie Duran, Philanthropy Specialist, at lduran@livingathillcrest.org or by phone at (909) 392-4309.