October 2026 Sunriver Scene - Flipbook - Page 14
A treasure trove of secondhand items at Second Tern
By Lily Pifferini-Carter,
Second Tern Manager
Items donated to the Second
Tern Thrift Store are dropped
off in the back, distributed to
volunteers at various departments, inspected, priced and
placed on the floor. The items
are then sold to customers and
exit the front of the store to go
to their new homes. Physically,
these donated items flow in,
circle through the store and
flow out. A larger cycle also
drives the work, powered by
multiple sources of community
support, including donors, volunteers and shoppers.
As thrifting becomes more
popular and online resale platforms advance, the secondhand
market is growing faster than
traditional retail. Secondhand
apparel alone contributes $55.5
billion to the U.S. economy
and is predicted to reach $78.8
billion by 2030. Unlike other
commodities, these goods have
already been manufactured, so
a healthy secondhand market
can put less stress on our planet’s natural resources. It also
keeps quality items in circulation that may have otherwise
been discarded, thus lessening
the pressure on the landfills,
incinerators or recycling plants
that dispose of our waste.
In our community, the Second Tern Thrift Store funds
about one-third of Sunriver
Nature Center & Observatory’s
revenue, a critical source of the
general operating budget that
supports our mission-based
environmental programming.
In 2025, the Second Tern
diverted 3,700 cubic yards
of goods from the landfill by
either selling or recycling unsellable items. Volunteers at the
Second Tern make this positive
fundraising and environmental
impact possible every week. We
take in donations of items no
longer needed by their original
owners and prepare them to be
re-sold to people who would
find them useful. This closes
the circle that would otherwise
result in more burden on our
landfill and turns it into funds
that support local natural sciences education.
Each step in the process is
carried out by someone in our
community benefiting from
this system of reuse. The donor is relieved of items they no
longer need or want, and the
knowledge that they will be
repurposed and sold to support
a good cause. The volunteer
processing those donations is
spending time doing something they enjoy and building
community with other volunteers. Once put out for sale,
whoever purchases the item
gets to leave something they
need at a lower price tag and
cost to the environment. We
see every stage and milestone of
life reflected by what members
of our community donate or
purchase.
That old dish set you bought
for your first house may be
missing a few pieces, broken by
kids and houseguests over the
years, but it is just perfect for
the college student who only
needs enough for themself and
their roommate. Haven’t put
on that leather jacket since last
millennium? The 90s are so
back; someone born in 2006
is dying to wear it. Donations and purchases we see at
the Second Tern reflect every
change in someone’s life. It
is such a joy to help facilitate
those milestones and weave
a web that intertwines us all.
Recently, someone donated
a beautiful, cream-colored,
beaded wedding dress to us.
The donor bought the dress,
got married in the 80s, and
kept it in a box ever since. After cleaning out her house and
mulling it over, she decided to
donate it so the dress could be
given a new life. Not five
minutes after putting the
dress out for display on a Friday morning, a young woman
stood in front of it, transfixed.
She showed her future motherin-law who loved it too, and
the dress went home with
them to become a part of
their story.
The Second Tern Thrift
Store is located at 17377 Spring
River Road in Sunriver. Fill out
a volunteer application at snco.
org/volunteer. Shop or donate
during our opening hours,
Fridays and Saturdays from 10
a.m. to 3 p.m. with donations
accepted until 2 p.m.
Second Tern volunteer Susan W (right) helps a shopper look at
wedding dresses.
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OCTOBER 2026 SUNRIVER SCENE
