‘Hope and dignity’
Lulu\\\\\\\'s Free Store founder inspired to help others in need
It’s hard to describe inspiration, but you know it when you see it or feel it.
For Grace Reid-Vensel, the inspiration for a way to help her community came from enduring the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was a 16-year-old junior in high school in the wake of the pandemic,” Grace remembers. “My family and the families of so many of my peers were facing financial struggle. I saw my friends changing into their work uniforms 15 minutes before school let out and returning to school the next day, barely able to open their eyes to pay attention in class. I worked part time as well, but I was fortunate enough to only work on the weekends. I knew that we all weren’t just working for extra spending money; we were working to help contribute to our families.”
The situation inspired Grace to create LuLu’s Free Store, which is this month’s recipient of the Observer-Reporter’s Driven By Hope Award, sponsored by Washington Auto Mall.
“What my community needed was hope and dignity at a time when isolation and struggle in silence were the drumbeat of each day,” says Reid-Vensel, Founder and President of LuLu’s Free Store. Inspired by community free store efforts in Pittsburgh, she and her mom brainstormed solutions Grace could bring through her role in student council at the time. The result was the idea of a pop-up free store. Her fellow students cleared their closets, donated unopened items and used clothing, and the “store” put all of the donations on display during a lunch period.
“Seeing the excitement and community that was created, I knew this initiative needed to come to the community,” says Grace.
“After countless emails to organizations requesting to host our pop-up at their facility, Anne Wightman at the City Mission took a chance on the 16-year-old with a dream.”
Since then, LuLu’s Free Store has conducted more than 20 pop-up events in five locations across Western Pennsylvania, serving more than 1,500 individuals over the past five years.
“I still feel very fortunate and grateful for all the community members and kind strangers that have supported the organization along the way.”
Today, LuLu’s Free Store functions as a 501c3 nonprofit pop-up free store service providing clothing and hygiene essentials for people of all ages and sizes with no questions asked.
“We are here to listen to your story and connect you to the resources you need,” Grace adds. “We also provide free access to menstrual products through our partnership with The Honey Pot Co. in the form of menstruation stations, and we are currently stocking a menstruation station to the SPHS Center of Excellence for folks in recovery. We believe in providing service with dignity, respect, and genuine human connection.”
The future looks even brighter and more ambitious for LuLu’s Free Store.
“We recently went through the Ideas 2 Enterprize (I2E) Program at Ignite Business Incubator, and after taking third prize in the Business Plan and Pitching Competition, we have a clear vision for the next five years of development,” Grace explains. “We are anchoring our services in Washington by fundraising for a brick-and-mortar storefront. This would operate year-round, establishing LuLu’s as a consistent resource hub for the people of our city. There is so much need for both necessary resources and connection, and we would love to be part of the network of year-round community service providers on and around Main Street.”
Of course, those plans require financing, so the organization is fundraising and open to accepting donations.
“Having started the organization using my tips from when I waited tables in high school, the fundraising efforts of LuLu’s have largely been grassroots,” says Grace. “We are extremely grateful for the crowdfunding we have received throughout the years. We are looking to create sustainability in our funding sources and create community connections. We are currently in the process of planning a large fundraising gala this winter to obtain the funding needed to finally have the ribbon-cutting of a brick and mortar space.”
Outside of funding support, other ways to help LuLu’s Free Store include joining their free newsletter available on their website, volunteering time and outreach efforts and helping with grant writing.
Five years in, Reid-Vensel’s passion to help others is as strong as ever.
“My deepest passion is helping others. Nothing reinvigorates me like connecting with others and finding solutions for them. People keep me going,” she says. “It is easy to forget how alike we all are. I always say it is so much easier to dehumanize the person you do not know, but when they are standing in front of you, sharing their story, you realize that the undercurrent of their actions often mirror your same basic desires – we all want to make a good life for ourselves and those we care about. Breaking that barrier propels me forward.”
If you’d like more information on LuLu’s Free Store, how to help and to find their newsletter, please visit www.lulusfreestore.org.