Claire Scott and the display of DVDs she helped collect for the Second Chance Shop.
Claire Scott, a junior at West Morris Mendham High School in Mendham, NJ, who wants to major in business when she goes to college, has already shown that she has a flair for capitalism. Scott, who is active in her high school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter, spearheaded a drive to collect DVDs that could then be sold at the Second Chance Shop, a thrift shop in Gladstone, NJ, run by The Friends of Matheny to raise funds for the students and patients at Matheny.
Scott first heard about Matheny from a fellow Mendham resident, Kathleen Mangliado, who teaches in the Randolph Township Schools. Her DVD project was coordinated through Brenda DeRogatis, the teacher at West Morris Mendham responsible for FBLA.
Since September, Scott has volunteered on Saturdays at the Second Chance Shop and will take a break at the end of February so that she can run track. She has enjoyed working at the shop and particularly likes it when some of the DVDs that she helped collect are sold. Although she has never been to Matheny, Scott hopes to bring members of the girls’ track team to visit this spring.
The Friends of Matheny has raised more than $3 million for the students and patients at Matheny since the auxiliary group’s formation in 1983. The Second Chance Shop is located adjacent to the Gladstone United Methodist Church on Jackson Avenue in Gladstone. The shop is open Mondays from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday thru Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m; and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Donations of items in good condition are accepted on Mondays only.
Linda Horton, left, with a satisfied shopper at First Chance at Second Chance in 2012.
On Wednesday, August 14, bargain shoppers will get a preview of the merchandise to be featured next fall at the Second Chance Shop, the thrift shop operated in Gladstone, NJ, by The Friends of Matheny, the auxiliary group that raises funds to benefit Matheny’s students and patients. That’s the date for “First Chance at Second Chance,” a one-day reopening of the shop from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
According to Linda Horton, the Matheny trustee and Peapack, NJ, resident who manages the shop, “This is everyone’s opportunity to purchase all of our new merchandise before we re-open on September 3. The shop is super loaded with exciting items.”
The shop is located adjacent to the United Methodist Church on Jackson Avenue. The Friends of Matheny has raised more than $3 million since the group was started in 1983.
From left, Doris Engel of Chester; Linda Horton; and Chris Johnson of Bedminster.
Every year, Peapack, NJ, resident Linda Horton hosts an informal event to thank all the volunteers who donate their time to help out at the Second Chance Shop, The Friends of Matheny’s thrift shop in Gladstone, NJ, that raises money to support the students and patients at Matheny. This year’s “thank you” was an afternoon tea held on Sunday, April 7, in Matheny’s Robert Schonhorn Arts Center.
Each of the volunteers was asked to wear at least one item purchased at the shop, then modeling for all of their colleagues. Steve Proctor, president of Matheny, was also at the event, wearing a tie he had bought at the Second Chance Shop. He took the opportunity to thank the volunteers for the funds they raise, which “improve the lives of our children and adults,” adding that, “I can’t think of two finer individuals than Linda Horton and her husband, Bill.” Linda Horton is a member of Matheny’s Board Trustees; Bill Horton is mayor of Peapack-Gladstone.
Benita Kiell, left, helps Lorrie Pearson select a print.
Benita Kiell of Far Hills, NJ, has been volunteering at The Friends of Matheny’s Second Chance Shop for about three years. The shop sells gently used items, such as clothing, books, artwork and household items, to raise money to enhance the quality of life for Matheny’s students and patients. Kiell originally heard about the shop through a work colleague of her daughter whose son was a residential student.
“It gives me a good feeling to be working for a good cause,” she says. One of her regular customers, Lorrie Pearson of Basking Ridge, points out that she has an additional reason for shopping at Second Chance. “You never know what you might find,” she says.
The Friends of Matheny’s Second Chance shop set a new record for the 2012-2013 season, reaching $126,036.08 in sales, its largest total ever and a 48% increase over the previous year’s $85,000. Previous high was reached in the 2006-07 season when the shop earned $105.275.58.
This was the shop’s first year in a building adjacent to the Gladstone United Methodist Church, after operating for several years out of the church’s basement. Funds raised by the Second Chance Shop help support a variety of activities and programs at Matheny.
Janet Stiles of Far Hills, was one of the last shoppers to make a purchase on Friday, June 22, the last day before closing for the summer. A “regular” there, she bought some clothes and a very unusual wooden holder for pots and pans. “I stop in quite frequently to check things out.”
The Second Chance shop will reopen for one day on August 22 for “First Chance at Second Chance.” Then, it will reopen permanently on September 4.
Irene Ellis, also of Gladstone, shows off her purchases as she gets set to celebrate her 87th birthday.
Every year, to thank all of the volunteers who have worked in The Friends of Matheny’s Second Chance Shop, manager Linda Horton has a party to celebrate their accomplishments. The only requirement for those attending is that they wear or show something they actually bought at the shop. This year’s event was held May 3 in the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center at Matheny, and no one was disappointed.
Some of the volunteers sported complete outfits, others just an accessory such as a hat, scarf or tie. And some confessed that they don’t buy clothes but, instead, toys for their grandchildren or household items such as dishes or vases. In the grandchildren category, the big buyer was Janet Allocca of Chester, NJ, who revealed that she has 19!
Irene Wiehle of Gladstone, NJ, in her very eclectic outfit.
At the time of the get-together, the Second Chance Shop had already surpassed $100,000 in sales with almost a month to go in the season, so there will probably be another party to celebrate a new record. Steve Proctor, Matheny president, thanked the volunteers for all their hard work and read off a list of items for the patients and students made possible by the money from their sales.
Fred Okun helps unload donations brought by Gloria Radlmann of Tewksbury.
When Fred and Nancy Okun of Basking Ridge, NJ, attended Full Circle, the annual celebration of Matheny’s Arts Access Program, this past November, they didn’t know they were going to be recruited as volunteers at the Second Chance Shop, a thrift shop run by Matheny’s auxiliary group, The Friends of Matheny. But they happened to bump into Linda Horton, a friend from Peapack who is on Matheny’s Board of Trustees and also manages the shop. The rest is history.
Nancy Okun now volunteers as a salesperson one Thursday a month, and, since Monday is the only day of the week that the shop accepts merchandise donations, Fred Okun comes to the shop every Monday to help collect and unload the clothing, books and knicknacks that local residents drop off.
Nancy Okun is a retired pharmacist, “but my repressed desire,” she admits, “was always to have an antiques store. So, maybe this is good training.” Fred Okun is also retired, from a career at GE Healthcare. Helping out at the shop, he says, “gives you a good feeling.”
The Friends of Matheny has raised more than $3 million since its formation in 1983. Last year, the Second Chance Shop earned more than $88,000.
Nancy Okun is ready to welcome her first customer.
The Second Chance Shop, the thrift shop operated by The Friends of Matheny, Matheny’s auxiliary group, would not be possible without the dedication of volunteers, such as Gina Kalvin.
On June 30, 2010, Kalvin retired after 21 years as the Peapack-Gladstone, NJ, police secretary. The very next day, she received a phone call from Linda Horton, a member of Matheny’s Board of Trustees and the shop’s manager. Horton asked Kalvin to volunteer as a salesperson. Kalvin, a resident of Peapack, agreed.
Kalvin, shown here trying on one of the hats at the Second Chance Shop, works the first Wednesday of every month and most enjoys “seeing all the great things that come in and go out of here.” The shop raised $88,507 last year, which helps support Matheny’s programs and services.
Located adjacent to the Gladstone United Methodist Church on Jackson Avenue in Gladstone, the shop is open Mondays, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Tuesdays-Fridays, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.; and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Donations in good condition are accepted on Mondays only.
