BONNERS FERRY — More children than ever took part in the Second Chance Animal Adoption thrift store’s annual “Kids Shop for Free” event. 

Held Dec. 4-23, thrift store staff sets up a table in the middle of the store with free items that children can take and give to family and friends. This year, hundreds of local children visited the store to pick out gifts. 

Liz Cada, a Second Chance board member, was instrumental in planning this year’s event and credited its founder. 

“Amy Bridges, a former board member, came up with this idea,” Cada said. “I know she’s really proud of it.” 

Last year, over 100 children participated in the event. In part because the thrift store was open for more hours this year, that number grew significantly to over 300 this December. 

“We exceeded 100 kids in our first five days,” Cada said. 

The increase has created a need for more volunteers next year. 

“We’re going to need to schedule volunteers to help wrap and bag the gifts because we did not anticipate the overwhelming number of kids coming in droves,” Cada said. 

Board members began visiting local businesses in September to request donations for the event. 

“We, the board, ran around and really spread the word,” Cada said. “We went to the Rotary Club and talked there about it. We also visited businesses we had never been to before.” 

She shared stories of children who were unsure if they could take gifts and the joy they felt when they were allowed. 

“We had this girl, probably about 9, who thought she couldn’t shop at the table because she wasn’t poor,” Cada said.  

Once she found out she was able to pick a present for her parents, her mood shifted. 

“She said, ‘Oh, good. I didn’t know what I was going to do, because Mom and Dad would have to take me separately to keep it a secret,’” Cada said. 

“We also had a 14-year-old who looked older because she was tall. She was concerned she couldn’t shop. I told her, you’re not an adult, so yes, you can. We don’t turn people away. They still get to shop for each of their family members,” Cada said. 

Brynn Brokaw, lead thrift store employee, said a lot of planning goes into making the event happen. 

“Besides setting aside new items for the kids shop, I made a lot of the signage,” Brokaw said. “We were going to put out flyers, but because of how popular it’s been, we didn’t need to. There was concern that we would run out of items.” 

She said staff also rearranged the store for the event. 

“We moved a bunch of stuff around, moved this ugly shelf over to the wall, put down a nice rug, and brought out a table,” Brokaw said. 

While the event was designed for children to buy gifts for others, that didn’t always happen. 

“A lot of kids just took items for themselves,” Brokaw said. “Honestly, I don’t blame them. I would have as well — I was a greedy child.” 

Brokaw also volunteered as one of Santa’s elves when the man from the North Pole visited the thrift store on two Saturdays before Christmas. 

“I jokingly volunteered to be an elf,” Brokaw said. “It ended up being true — Santa made me an elf, magically.” 

She described the experience as special. 

“It’s been really fun to collect gifts for the children and to give the children the gifts for free,” Brokaw said. “Most things in life are not free. Christmas joy is.” 

    Santa visits the Second Chance Animal Adoption thrift store.