Please Help The Chatham Free Store Grow

The success of the Town of Chatham Free Store- located behind the Chatham town hall, 488 State Route 295- has exceeded our expectations And our Building’s Storage Capacity!!!

In July of 2023, Town Supervisor Donal Collins brought a resolution in front of the town board that would establish a free store in the town of Chatham. The resolutions passed unanimously. None of us imagined how wildly popular it would become! The Free Store is a dynamic exchange and recirculation of goods that might otherwise end up in landfills.

A couple of the most popular items that are exchanged are clothing and shoes. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has determined that approximately 1.4 billion pounds of clothing and textiles are disposed of in the state each year! The Town of Chatham would like to help reduce that number while enriching lives.

The Free Store is open Tuesdays & Thursdays from 10AM-4PM and Saturdays from 9AM to 12PM. Donations are accepted on the last Saturday of each month.

Our building is 12x20 and filled to capacity. We must store donations that will not fit in the building in the town hall where they cannot be viewed and distributed. Our goal is to purchase another building of the same size. This new building would be used exclusively for clothing and footwear. That would leave plenty of room in our current shed for house and kitchen wares, toys, children’s books and so many other items.

The projected cost for an additional building including installation, lighting and shelving is $15,000. I am collecting funds that will be earmarked and donated to the Town of Chatham.

Would you like to help make a second building possible?

Thank you!

abi mesick, Chatham Free Store Volunteer