COLLEGE HILL -- On a rainy afternoon in College Hill, Dottie Broadfoot and Pat Diehl proudly walk through their small business. They know they are making a difference in this small community.
Mrs. Broadfoot and Mrs. Diehl are volunteers who each week take turns running Lord's Bounty, a used clothing store in the business district of this Cincinnati community.
Although this day's weather has dropped the normal load of 40 people per day to a minimum, the two are not discouraged. After all, it is not unusual to have 10 to 15 people in the store at once, forking over money for clothes and small treasures.
What is unusual, though, is what they do with the money.
Lord's Bounty is a non-profit organization that gives its earnings to fund community efforts. Six churches and 25 volunteers operate the store.
Last year, the business gave $2,500 in scholarship money to local students, $1,000 to a tutoring program, $1,000 to a day camp, $1,000 to a pregnancy care center and $3,000 to Christ Community (a consortium of churches) for rent assistance and emergency food. In total, Lord's Bounty returned more than $9,500 to the community.
This year, it awarded $4,000 in scholarships, $8,000 to Christ Community, and more as the store continues to do well.
A woman from the local Presbyterian Church came up with the idea of creating the shop and donating its earnings to pay for local improvements. Today that woman, Edith Barr, said the work has been worth the effort.
"It's exciting to see that this is still a part of the community," said Mrs. Barr, who continues to sit on the executive board. "At first, it was one of those things I didn't want to do, but the Lord made me do it."
Mrs. Broadfoot, who has been involved with Lord's Bounty for 13 years, said the store serves a double purpose in College Hill. "Some people come in here, and you can tell that they don't have much," she said. "It's a great feeling when you know that you've helped another person put clothes on themselves or their kids." Some shirts sell for as little as $1, and pants can be priced as low as $1.50. Many of the clothes and trinkets that line the walls of the store are donations from churches. Each day, boxes of clothes are found sitting outside the front and back doors.
Business people in College Hill said they marvel how well the store is run.
Arthur Ehrmantraug, an accountant around the corner from Lord's Bounty, said he usually isn't a fan of second-hand stores. But women such as Mrs. Broadfoot and Mrs. Diehl have changed his attitude. "This has been a class operation from the start," he said. "The ladies run it so well. They should be proud of what they've done."
Last year, volunteers dedicated 5,014 hours of their time to Lord's Bounty. Mrs. Broadfoot said the accomplishments of her staff should not be underestimated.
"It's pretty rare that a business only would have to pay rent and the light bill," she said.
"At first, we weren't sure how this would work. But after all these years, we're still here."
