Medical Lake thrift store director Anne Starr leads thriving nonprofit

The Care and Share Thrift Store in Medical Lake has served both regular shoppers who live in the community and those who come from Spokane and Coeur d’Alene to take advantage of special sales and get good deals on everything from dishes to winter coats.

Director Anne Starr has been a volunteer at the store for 18 years and its director for 16. When she started, the thrift store shared a long, narrow building at 211 N. Lefevre St. with the town’s food bank. But over the years the store has done so well that the food bank has its own building, the original building was remodeled and an annex was added to showcase furniture donations.

Starr, who is not paid, oversees a team of six volunteers who run the store every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. “No one gets paid,” she said. “We have a great team. They’re just a joy to be around. The customers love them.”

All the proceeds from the store are used to support the food bank.

“We pay every utility they have there,” Starr said. “We pay for their supplies, we pay for food.”

But the thrift store’s charity doesn’t end there. There is an outreach office in the food bank and if someone has a special need, such as a woman fleeing domestic violence who needs clothes and kitchen items for a new apartment, Starr and her volunteers provide the needed items free of charge.

“We give them everything, from clothes to shoes to hats to pajamas,” she said.

Starr said she’s often amazed by the stories she hears from shoppers, many of whom are down on their luck for one reason or another, whether it’s health issues or loss of a job.

“You think you have it tough?” she said. “No.”

Starr found the thrift store when she and her husband moved here after his retirement from the Army. He raises and trains falcons, and she was looking for something to keep her busy. She found it. It’s not unusual to devote at least 60 hours a week to the store.

“We all have to get out of bed every day with a purpose,” she said. “It is my purpose. It’s a labor of love. I love what I’m doing.”

The store offers clothes, linens, blankets, kitchen items, shoes, purses and more. Right now there are a lot of Christmas decorations available, and there’s a special area for pet fashions. An entire wall is lined with books. With paperbacks selling for 50 cents and hardbacks for $1, Starr said there are some regular customers who come and browse the books frequently. Anything by James Patterson or John Grisham is usually a hot seller.

“The Nora Roberts’ are flying out the door,” she said.

Every Christmas Starr takes donations she has set aside during the year and creates large gift baskets to raffle off. This year there are four baskets featuring Seahawks swag, a basket packed full of vintage Hot Wheels cars still in the packaging and a cooking-themed basket. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5. The drawing is scheduled for Dec. 23.

But it all got shut down in March when the first pandemic closure began. Starr and her volunteers couldn’t sell anything, but that didn’t stop people from donating. Eventually Starr had to have the city put up barricades so people couldn’t drop off donations.

“It was on the street, and then it rained or snowed,” she said.

When the thrift store opened back up, people came back in search of deals.

“They were thrilled, the customers,” she said. “It was like a homecoming. This is a really social, welcoming place for people in this town.”

Starr said she thinks the need for low-cost items has increased, and she’s heard customers talk about losing their jobs. And it’s not unusual for her to see customers from as far away as Coeur d’Alene, particularly if there’s a big sale. The weekly sales are announced on the store’s Facebook page.

“That’s why they do come here, because of the prices,” she said. “They do come back.”

But the donations are still coming, too, keeping her shelves full.

“All this is donated,” she said. “God bless these people.”

– Nina Culver can be reached at nculver47@gmail.com