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The Corvallis Community Thrift Shop is located at 144 NW 2nd Street at the corner of 2nd and Jackson Streets in downtown Corvallis. Come visit our Shop!
As we celebrate 75 years in service to our community, we would like to gather some information on the impact we have had. Did you or someone you know receive a scholarship from The OSU Folk Club Thrift Shop? If so, please click on the link below to let us know how it impacted your life. Please pass on this information to others you know who received a scholarship. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated!
The OSU Folk Club Thrift Shop’s history began with the OSU Folk Club, which was established as a social and service club on October 29, 1908 by OSU faculty women and faculty wives. The first annual scholarship was given by the OSU Folk Club in 1931, during the depths of the Great Depression. It was funded by donations, teas, and cookbook sales. This first scholarship was for $50 to cover tuition. The next year it was named for the founder of the Folk Club, Leonora Kerr, who was the wife of OSU President Kerr. In 1944, President Kerr gave stock to the OSU Business Office to cover the cost of funding a full tuition scholarship in perpetuity.
The OSU Folk Club Thrift Shop was established in 1949 to give profits from sales to community organizations. Folk Club members collected items from their homes and established the Thrift Shop to generate funds for community grants for Benton County nonprofits. In 1959, the Folk Club asked the Thrift Shop to also take over the provision of funds for OSU Scholarships. Scholarships became a fixed amount and could be used to cover tuition and other related costs.
In 2007, there was a large bequest by Jane Loomis with the stipulation that it went to a 501[c][3] nonprofit. That is when the OSU Folk Club Thrift Shop Foundation was created. In 2009, scholarships and grants began being distributed from the Foundation, although funds still came from Thrift Shop profits.
This was the means of designating funds for grants and scholarships until 2020 when the Thrift Shop ceased all sales due to the Covid epidemic. The Thrift Shop reopened in 2021, and in 2022 the Thrift Shop also became a 501[c][3] and began awarding scholarships and grants independently. Since then, profits from donated goods have gone to fund both scholarships and grants. The Foundation continues to award grants from its own funds.
Volunteers for the Thrift Shop now come from all over Benton County. There are no longer restrictions by gender or employment to OSU. The only restriction is that they must be of high school age or older.
Together the OSU Folk Club, Thrift Shop, and Foundation have to date contributed to the awarding of $1,625,104 in grants to Benton County nonprofits, and $1,510,667 in scholarships to OSU and LBCC.
Whether you are new, returning, or have been here for a while, if you are looking for ways to meet people and perhaps do some volunteering, the Corvallis Community Thrift Shop might be the answer. We get together as volunteer workers and enjoy each other’s company for learning and just for fun.
We are open Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All items for sale in the store have been donated. No consignments are being accepted.
Donations of clean, seasonal, good repair items are accepted Wednesdays and Saturday 10 am – 4 pm, or by appointment. Items can be brought to the door on the Jackson Street side of the Shop. Please see the list of Items Never Accepted so you do not bring items we cannot take.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support of the Corvallis Community Thrift Shop. We are excited to continue our 75+ year tradition of funding scholarships for high school students in Benton County who will attend OSU and providing grants to local non-profit organizations.