Thrift Store Has Second Annual Thanksgiving Lunch

"Thrift Store Has Second Annual Thanksgiving Lunch"

A Seminole Chronicle Article

By Jerriann Sullivan | November 23, 2010

Lena Logan (left),
Vine staff member and 
Cindy Shadron (right), 
executive director of the Vine.

The Vine's Thanksgiving lunch was held Wednesday afternoon.

Cindy Cook Shadron, executive director of the Vine thrift store in Oviedo, said she felt compelled to host the event, which was held for the second time since the organization opened its doors in 2007.

"Wherever they feel love to give, we will take them," Shadron said of those who volunteered at the lunch.

The midday meal was open to all community members but was designed to provide a place for people who otherwise might not have had the opportunity to celebrate the holiday.

"Some people feel isolated and don't have anywhere to go," Shadron said.

Last year the Vine fed about 300 people and passed out about 200 bags of groceries. Shadron said some of the guests took buses from Sanford to the Vine just for the free meal. She said it felt like there would be fewer events for Thanksgiving this year, making the Vine's lunch even more necessary for the Oviedo community.

Shadron wasn't sure how many people would show up to receive the free meal or bag of groceries.

"You don't know; you just put it there and feed as many people as you can," Shadron said.

The Vine's sponsors, including Fifth Third Bank, Riverside Park, Rippin' Riverside Skate Park, Metro Church, SNAP Fitness and central Florida fire stations 44, 46 and 48, collected food this year. The radio station Z88.3 reported live from the event.

Shadron said she hopes to continue collecting food in order to host a bigger dinner to celebrate the Christmas holiday next month.

The Vine is also a Christian-based ministry, which Shadron said originally set out to provide funding and support for children who have aged out of the foster care system.

"I just have a big heart for the kids," she said. "But we help where we can."

Shadron worked as a guardian ad litem through Seminole County for 11 years, which is where she learned about the needs of foster children.

"A lot of those kids fall into the cracks," she said.

With some success, the Vine grew and is able to offer support and resources for children, single moms, single dads, troubled teens, homeless men, needy families and lonely or hurting people of all age and backgrounds.

"If we keep going in that direction, I think a lot of people will be helped," Shadron said.

The Vine produces funds for the non-profit organization through sales made at its thrift store. Shadron and her volunteers operate the store, where they sell brand name clothing, accessories, books and housewares.

When able, the Vine will also send trailers of clothing and furniture to other non-profit organizations. Shadron said they are always looking for volunteers and donations.

Capturing a Dream at Any Age - Learning to Read

Photo by: Kristy Vickery

Seventy-year-old James Carter practices reading, in the back office of the Vine Thrift Store in Oviedo, with his 70-year-old teacher Jim Lewis, a retired English teacher who volunteers at the Adult Literacy League.

"Capturing a dream at any age"

A Seminole Voice Article

By Milon Townsend

June 3, 2010 5:54 p.m. 

In the back of a crowded room, James Carter rigorously studies the sentence, slowly reading one word at a time, "Dan-n-n picks up the box and puts the s-s-snake in the r-r-river."

Carter may be reading at a first-grade level, but he has far out-aged grade school. He is learning to do something most people take for granted, learning to read — at the age of 70.

"It's been rough for me," Carter said. "But I think I am doing good."

Growing up was not easy for Carter. He started working at when he was 9, and said he never spent a single day in school.

"I just worked all the time," Carter said. "I traveled all around the world on boxcars."

Carter is finally getting the chance he never got growing up, with the help of an Adult Literacy League volunteer and the Vine Thrift Store in Oviedo.

Jim Lewis, a 70-year-old retired English teacher who volunteers his time at the Adult Legacy League, has been working with Carter an hour and a half, twice a week, for the last year.

"Mr. James is a client, but he is more than that — he is certainly a buddy, and although he started off really basic he's doing very well now," Lewis said. "He never got to learn any comprehension skills or think quickly, until now, so it was all about survival… not a single day in school for an American citizen, isn't that a tragedy?"

The two began meeting at the library, but quickly decided The Vine Thrift Store, the place that brought them together, was better suited for their weekly sessions.

"We decided the library wasn't working for us, but this (the Vine Thrift Store) did," Lewis said. "And Cindy was like the angel in the middle."

Vine Thrift Store owner Cindy Cook said she helped the two become a pair after she learned Carter, who is known as Mr. James around her store, could not even read simple things like street signs.

"We're not angels, we are just doing our part, and this is just a little part," Cook said. "If everybody would just do a little bit, then the world would be easier for other people. If we just pay attention to them and listen to them and maybe see who they are really are, then maybe Mr. James would have learned to read a long time ago."

She also said they are so happy to be helping him, and everyone at the store is so proud of his progress.

"We are so excited for Mr. James; it's like a dream come true for him," said Cook. "That was all he wanted all his life was to read and write."

According to the Adult Literacy League's Web site, one in five Central Florida adults reads at or below the fifth-grade reading level.

Carter is trying to overcome this statistic and live the life of he's always dreamed of; a life not of just survival, but of accomplishment.

"I prayed all my life for something like this to happen to me," Carter said. "My dream's come true now."

For more information on adult literacy visit www.adultliteracyleague.org.