Hope’s Hidden Treasures in Netcong: A Win-Win for a Church and Community

Volunteer Carol Scheese of Byram remembers a little girl coming into Hope’s Hidden Treasures, proudly holding a dollar that she was going to spend there. The manager, Helen Talley-Stein, of Hopatcong, noted that children will come in to buy items for themselves or to give to others.   Even young ones know that the thrift shop offers a variety of items, from clothing to toys to home goods to knickknacks,  and more,  at affordable prices.  The shop is a win-win situation which offers customers a chance to make their dollars stretch while also helping a local church.  The shop is located in the lower level of the Stanhope United Methodist Church at #2 Route 183  in Netcong. Lynn Zaremba, pastor of the church, noted that the proceeds of the shop are used to help the church continue its missions and ministries.  Celebrating its first anniversary this summer, Hope’s Hidden Treasures’ core group of volunteers and the church’s pastor recently talked about the shop which is open during the summer, Saturdays 9am – noon (until the week after Labor Day), and then goes back to its regular hours of Saturdays from 9am – 1pm.

Talley-Stein noted that she’d wanted to have a thrift store at the church for a long time.   The church had had yearly rummage sales, but those took a great deal of work and not everything sold by the end of the day.  However, she envisioned that if the sale was on-going, a thrift shop, they could get in donations and be consistently selling.  The problem was that the church had no room.   Then, rooms previously used by a pre-school became available.  They were transformed into Hope’s Hidden Treasures.  Its core team of volunteers are Carol Scheese and her husband Walter, Talley-Stein, Linda White of Stanhope, and Bill Rosequist of Netcong. “We have a few others that come in periodically to help sort and price items,” said Talley-Stein.

Walter Scheese acts as greeter.   He noted that when new shoppers come to the store, he enjoys “giving the layout of the land”.   When it comes to regulars, his fellow volunteers noted that Scheese has an uncanny ability to remember people’s hobbies or likes and will direct them to recently added items they might find of interest.  Scheese notes that volunteering at the shop is not work because he enjoys it.  He likes meeting and talking to customers and noted that he and his fellow volunteers “have some good laughs”.

Racks of clothes like these can be found at Hope’s Hidden Treaures.

 The shop has clothing for children and adults, shoes, ladies’ purses, jewelry, housewares, small furniture, books, toys, pet supplies, CDs, DVDs, holiday items, and more. “We have brand name [items] and Walmart. We get high end items: Coach, JCrew, Tahari, etc. We also get some very old collectibles and cool vintage items,” shared Talley-Stein.  Donations of new and gently used items are taken during store hours or can be arranged by calling the church.   The thrift shop doesn’t take used socks or used underwear, electronics, or large furniture.

Rosequist stands behind the counter checking out purchases.  He noted that he enjoys seeing little kids running around while the parents shop and interacting with customers.  “It’s like old friends week,” he shared.  He noted that volunteers look forward to seeing their regular customers and worry about them when they don’t see them for a while. 

There is a great deal to do to keep the shop humming; however, the volunteers enjoy helping their church and the community interaction.  White said she volunteered because she knew it would benefit the church.  She’s also found that it can be fun and that the shop is the kind of place where you get to know the regular customers by name. Carol Scheese shared that what she likes about volunteering is working with other people for a purpose.   Also, she shared that the shop is all about the community, making a connection with it. 

Shelves of glassware and other household items can be found at Hope’s Hidden Treasures.

 Besides the proceeds helping the church to be able to do its ministries and missions, the thrift shop helps the community in several ways.   First, of course, it helps to make affordable items available to people during a time when the economy is tight.   While some people buy the items for their own needs, Talley-Stein shared that some take advantage of the shop’s low prices to buy items to resell at a higher price which helps them to make money to support their families.  Some items that the shop can’t sell are donated to a local Lupus chapter.  Blankets and towels that can’t be sold are given to local animal shelters.   In addition, it’s been found that in coming to the thrift shop, some customers have seen that the church has a food pantry and later, on a return trip, bring donations for that pantry.  

For more information on the thrift shop, contact the church at 973-347-0247.