A birds-eye view of Bountiful Blessings Giving Closet, a free store located in The Dalles on Washington Street. Lynn O’Brien and two other lead volunteers work at the register.
A birds-eye view of Bountiful Blessings Giving Closet, a free store located in The Dalles on Washington Street. Lynn O’Brien and two other lead volunteers work at the register.
THE DALLES — “Some of the best rewards are when people come in, having never shopped here before, and they can’t totally believe that the items are free,” said Lynn O’Brien, a lead volunteer at Bountiful Blessings Giving Closet — a new thrift store in The Dalles where everything from shoes to craft supplies is, indeed, free.
“We see people shopping for clothing for a new job, housewares for their new home, baby clothes and items for a new parent, or for a warm pair of insulated pants that helps keep them warm at night,” she wrote. “... Seeing them start to flourish or hearing about their wins is an exciting and rewarding part of the job. We also take pride knowing that usable, valued goods are being saved from getting dumped into landfills, and that people can find use in them, with options to recycle or upcycle, and that it is open to the entire community, not just those with limited funds.”
Bountiful Blessings Giving Closet, a free store in The Dalles, opened on June 21, 2025.
“We started with a few boxes of clothing and a couple of tables of plates, cups, and a box of books. In nearly 8 months we have grown to be a full fledged no-cost thrift store with a small food pantry,” O’Brien wrote in an email, with input from other volunteers. “The concept of no-cost stores is not a new concept here in The Dalles. Both the SVDP Food Pantry and the Salvation Army Food Pantry here in The Dalles have done immense work for our community for decades, and we are just expanding on what is readily available to our community. We are firm believers that our communities are stronger when we work together.”
This store began when O’Brien watched an episode of Mike Rowe’s “Returning the Favor.” The idea of a donation based, community free store inspired O’Brien, who started with a small “community swap” of free stuff in December 2024.
“People expressed how something like this was needed,” she wrote.
After the Rowena and Burdoin fires last year, “our communities had their foundations literally taken out from underneath them,” O’Brien wrote. “My friend Cheryl and I pulled the idea together in a couple weeks, found a building owner who was so gracious to let us use his building for our grassroots effort, and opened our doors. It has been so inspiring to do this work that we want to grow and expand.”
Volunteers take donations in the store during business hours; sort and inspect them for things like broken zippers, holes, stains and so forth; then put them out for people to take. Books, dishes, craft supplies and miscellaneous stuff sit on shelves, just like any thrift store. Some things need to be washed and are taken off-site for that.
“It can be physically stressful, especially if it is a busy day for both donations and shoppers, and there is only one volunteer to man the store,” she added. “Some of those boxes and bags can be quite heavy, weighing 30-40 pounds or more, and we put our volunteers’ safety and health first ... We have this amazing group of The Dalles High School volunteers who come down for one hour each Monday to earn community service hours towards their graduation requirement. They have been a huge help.”
Donations and a few“fundraiser” priced items, mostly vintage glassware and collectibles, generate the store’s only income, paying for utilities.
And they’re always looking for volunteers to help run the store. They’ve got about 10.
“One of the biggest challenges we have is volunteer retention,” O’Brien said. “We all have lives outside of the store, and sometimes it can often be difficult.”
Another challenge is space.
“When we first started last June, we worried that we had this large space and very few donations. That quickly changed ... donations were coming in, but not many shoppers.”
Now they hold a 10-foot by 20-foot storage unit full of donations for the fire victims, and multiple people are waiting for them to gather the space and volunteers to handle five or six entire households of stuff. If she had the volunteers, O’Brien could fill a three-story building.
“..we occupy roughly 3,400 square feet. We would love a larger space, but we’re unsure of where that space is. We know it is out there, we just have to find it!” O’Brien said.
Usually 20-50 or more people come per day, depending on weather. “We welcome our neighbors from here in The Dalles and surrounding communities, like Lyle, Hood River, Goldendale and Hermiston. We love that we get to work with local area agencies to help their clients take positive steps forward,” O’Brien said.
In a favorite story, a man dropped off a working lathe. Some moments later, another man found it, broke down with emotion, and took it away to teach with and use.
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