College students run virtual pop-up thrift store on Instagram to benefit Rescue Mission

Some people are born with style, others have to pay for it.

If you are in the latter group and were looking for something to wear that was 100% guaranteed to be fashionable, yet cost very little money, and was also a more ethical and sustainable clothes shopping option, the TheThriftProjectTCNJ store checks all the boxes.

Kennedy Ferruggia and Josh Simpson, two Bonner Scholars at The College of New Jersey, created the thrift project in 2013 as a student initiative in a partnership with the Rescue Mission of Trenton.

Pre-COVID, curated clothing from the Rescue Mission was originally offered for sale to fellow students in person. “In prior semesters we had pop-up shops (2 per semester) that we host on campus,” said site leader Ferruggia.

But during the pandemic, the only option was to go all-virtual.

“Every Wednesday and Friday we have our virtual pop-up shop and we post our clothes on our Instagram story,” she added. “We have a lot of unique items and cool pieces, so if you like thrifting it’s a really nice place to find some online clothes.”

For the project, Josh Simpson brought a steamer from home to take out the wrinkles before individual items would be photographed in Forcina Hall against a stylized backdrop of slightly erased words on a chalkboard.

“As of right now it’s been working pretty well,” he said. “Students are responding pretty actively.”

The purchase comes in a gift bag which includes a includes a homemade tile hot plate and with a personalized note thanking the buyer for their support.

Faculty advisor Katie Kahn is Program Manager for the Bonner Scholars Institute at TCNJ and calls herself “a proud Bonner Alum, Class of 2015.”

“Students get to be more ethical and sustainable in their clothing shopping options but also to donate directly back to the Rescue Mission,” she said. “In past years we’ve raised between 2 and $3,000 per semester for the Rescue Mission.”

Khan expressed pride that Kennedy and Josh “would take such an initiative to the campus community about the process and the social issues that we’re addressing. I’m really excited to see it get off the ground this semester, and so many students engage with it online.”

“Our heartfelt thanks goes out to Kennedy and Josh for their dedication, their compassion, and their commitment, as well as their unique ability to connect The Mission with college students, and to spread the word about how we are here to help anyone who knocks on our door,” Barrett Young, Chief Executive Officer of The Mission, said in a prepared statement.

As the current semester winds down the virtual thrift store will also take a hiatus. Josh will return home for the summer to Washington D.C., but Kennedy, who lives locally, says she will continue to volunteer at the Rescue Mission.

And as COVID-19 loosens its grip on the population, Ferruggia says “with the opening of in person classes and activities for the fall semester we should be able to host pop-up shops then.” When that happens, the virtual store will still continue, but once per week.

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Michael Mancuso may be reached at mmancuso@njadvancemedia.com