Buckeye Bargains, a small thrift shop on Ohio State’s campus, has been making a difference in students’ lives for more than 40 years. It’s because most of the shop’s revenue goes to OSU Women’s Club scholarships.
The thrift store, operated by the University Women’s Club, gives about 20 scholarships per year to deserving female students.
The Women’s Club was founded by a former OSU president’s wife in 1895, but Buckeye Bargains wasn’t formed until 1966. About 40 members of the club take turns volunteering Tuesdays and Wednesdays to work at the shop and serve the students, staff and university community. OSU is the only Big Ten university that has its own thrift shop.
“We’re not an interest group, we’re kind of an entity all our own,” said Bonnie Stevens, former president of the club and a Buckeye Bargains volunteer. “We are all [Women’s Club] volunteers and we use very little money in operating expenses, so every cent goes to the scholarship fund.”
Buckeye Bargains places all its earned money, along with club member donations, in an OSU endowment fund that is controlled by the university. This endowment fund builds interest, enabling Buckeye Bargains to give scholarships every year, said Barbara Herzog, treasurer of the club. The amount of the scholarships depends on the market value of the endowment each year.
For the 2009-2010 school year, 18 scholarships were awarded, and each recipient received about $1,500. The university chooses the recipients, and many of the winners are working mothers or women who have just returned to school, Stevens said. They also have high GPAs, she added.
“The winners are always well deserving of this scholarship, and there are so many students that struggle financially,” Stevens said. “What better way to serve the community than to give scholarships to worthy students?”
Although the amount of scholarship money and number of recipients differs each year, the endowment fund is still gaining interest, and volunteers are working hard to increase the number of customers.
However, the 2010-2011 scholarship amount might be lower as a result of the poor economy and less people coming into the shop, said Colleen Houser, chairwoman and volunteer at Buckeye Bargains.
Every November, the winners of the scholarship are invited to a Faculty Club luncheon, where the Women’s Club members get a chance to meet the recipients.
Beverly Kaplan, a Buckeye Bargains volunteer for more than 50 years, remembers a touching story a recipient told at their November luncheon. The winner stood up and quietly told the audience how her father left her, her two sisters and her mother and then took all the money they had in savings.
“I just started to cry right there,” Kaplan said. “I felt so badly, but I’ll tell you, these women do appreciate the scholarships.”
The recipients aren’t the only appreciative ones. The volunteers enjoy hearing the students’ stories and seeing the effect the scholarships have had on their lives.
“It is extremely rewarding to hear how this has affected them and
how this has helped them to follow their dreams,” Stevens said. “It just really warms our hearts to see that what we’re doing has a direct result on how the students are doing.”
With the rising cost of education, many students struggle financially. It is to the students’ advantage to look for any way they can supplement their tuition, Herzog said.
“Buckeye Bargains is a huge asset to the OSU community because it empowers female students by offering them a financial opportunity to follow their career aspirations,” said Meggie King, a fourth-year in strategic communication. “Especially in these tough economic times, students should take the time to support such a generous organization.”
Buckeye Bargains is located at 2121 Tuttle Park Place in the basement of Converse Hall and is open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesdays.
