The Loomis Chaffee Thrift Store
Ashley Jun ‘26 and Morgan Touhy ‘27
Cathy Zhang ’26
On a bitter January evening, excited Loomis Chaffee students filed in and out of the Snug to explore the new thrift store abuzz with interest. Created by Ashley Jun ‘26 as her Gilchrist Environmental Fellowship (GEF), this sustainable project serves as a step towards improving our school's dedication to climate change.
For Ashley, her love for shopping served as a personal awakening as she learned about the negative impact fast fashion has on the environment. She shared, “I have always been a big shopper since I was young, and when I learned about fast fashion, I felt guilty and knew I was contributing to this climate change issue.”
Just as Ashley gained awareness about the negative impacts of fast fashion, she hopes to educate the Loomis community through this thrift store exhibit. With the help of Sophia Hughson ‘26 and Eli Somberg ‘26, she went around campus providing bins for students to drop old clothes with the idea of upcycling in mind. Upcycling consists of giving used and worn clothes in good condition to a new home instead of discarding them to contribute to the excessive waste problem.
In terms of the thrift store’s success, Ashley states, “we collected 177 pieces of clothing.” The students laundered the clothes in Flagg Hall and Longman, ensuring the pieces were ready to be sold. The response to the thrift store’s opening was overwhelming. “It started off really strong with a lot of people visiting and buying clothes, and after the basketball game, we got a really big rush of people and were able to sell most of our clothes on display, and raised $416,” says Ashley.
Yet the thrift store and Ashley are not done making their impact on the community. The team is hoping to purchase used t-shirt yarn to make keychains as a part of their fundraiser for a local thrift store opening next to The Bean in town. After that, they will create new items out of the unsold clothes from the thrift store to be displayed at an art exhibition at the RAC.
Ashley acknowledges that she would not have been able to get where she is now without the help from many Loomis Chaffee faculty. “I am extremely grateful for all the help I received from both Mrs. Griggs and Mr. Dyreson, but especially campus safety and all the people behind the scenes who helped me so much throughout the process of making sure this can happen in real life” says Ashley.
The project has helped spread an important message throughout the Loomis community about sustainability. Combating climate change is truly a collective effort, and the thrift store is an example of an idea that can impact hundreds of people. Ashley emphasizes, “I hope everyone can also realize how important it is to be conscious when it comes to saving our planet.”
