The popular thrift store Grey Bears is supporting the health and well-being of seniors while also doing its part to leave the planet in a better shape for future generations.
As detailed by Lookout Santa Cruz, the idea of Grey Bears began to take shape back in 1973, when UCSC graduate Kristina Mailliard and her partner, Gary Denny, learned how food insecurity was a major problem among senior members of the community.
Decades later, this is still an issue. Feeding America estimates that as many as seven million seniors in the U.S. are food insecure, and this number is expected to grow.
Mailliard and Denny began addressing this need by harvesting fruits and vegetables from their garden and donating them to local seniors.
Now, the thrift store Grey Bears keeps old household items and plastics out of landfills while helping to fund these charitable efforts through its Grey Bears Healthy Food Bag program, which provides produce to seniors for less than one dollar per week.
While oddly shaped fruits and veggies may be part of the mix, look no further than Misfits Market as another example of how foods don't have to be Instagram-worthy to be tasty and nutritious. Misfits Market also offers steep discounts on groceries while saving perfectly good foods from ending up in landfills, where they'd release planet-warming gases like methane.
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As for Grey Bears, in just the last year, it has saved 2 million pounds of food from local farms and groceries, with donations and volunteers playing essential roles.
"As someone who has worked in food service for most of my life, I have seen the abundance of food that gets wasted. As a Grey Bears volunteer, I get to pick up (food) shares from New Leaf and other stores … It's heart-warming," volunteer Dave Mitchell told Lookout Santa Cruz.
The store's on-site food distribution efforts have provided 12,000 Santa Cruz households with at least one free bag of groceries each week. Grey Bears also fosters social connection through shared hot meals, educational initiatives, and other opportunities for involvement.
"I came to Grey Bears a little over 4 years ago, we were serving 40 to 60 people daily," Grey Bears kitchen manager Sandy Johnson-Dexel, who has 25 years of food-service experience, told Lookout Santa Cruz. "... Now up to 200 to 300 people daily. It makes the hard work worth it."
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GoodTimes readers voted Grey Bears the best thrift store in Santa Cruz, California, this year.
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