If you're a fan of The I.D.E.A. Store on Facebook, you know by now that we like to insert a domino in posted photos of featured items - to indicate scale. We almost always have dominoes for sale, too, and you wouldn't believe all the clever ways you can reuse these game pieces. Oh, oh ... domino!

 

Zarana Bhagat came to The I.D.E.A. Store through a slightly different portal than most volunteers. While it's typical to get excited about volunteering after first experiencing the store as shoppers, Zarana - or "Z," as everyone call her - had never

even heard of The I.D.E.A. Store before she filled out a volunteer application. She learned of the store while perusing the University of Illinois list of volunteer opportunities in the community.

 

"I saw something called 'The I.D.E.A. Store,' " said Z, who, at the time she began volunteering, was a UI junior majoring in molecular cellular biology. "I'd never heard of it. For me, it was something different - nothing biological- or medical-based. It was different, so I signed up," she said.

 

Z has lived in Champaign since moving here with her family in fifth grade. She recently graduated from the UI and is taking a year off from her studies before applying to medical school. And while she always recycles when she can and had environmental interests before volunteering at the store, Z she said she is "not the artistic type, so it's interesting so see stuff people do with the materials they find at the store."

 

Another aspect of working at The I.D.E.A. Store that she enjoys is that "you see unique characters come into the store." And she added, "it's a fun place ... there's always random stuff here!"

 

Z's original assignment at The I.D.E.A. Store was working in the store's receiving "alley," where she helped with the first level of materials sorting. She eventually moved up to a cashiering position, one of the store's most demanding and responsible volunteer positions. You'll find her at the front counter greeting customers and ringing up sales most Saturdays.

 

 

I expect George Harrison said it best with the title track of his 1970 triple album "All Things Must Pass." Like it or not, most of us have figured out by now that we just can't ever get too cozy with the status quo. That's because change is always looming over yonder, just beyond the horizon, waiting to grab us and shake things up. 

And sometimes change is right there on the other side of the door, begging to be seized. Either way, it's a force to be reckoned with, I reckon. But back to the status quo ...

 

For the past two years, as The I.D.E.A. Store's (volunteer) Communications Coordinator, one of my assignments has been to bring you this newsletter - to keep you up-to-speed with store activities and happenings; to fill your inbox with pretty pictures of the store's quirky and amazing "product"; and introduce you to some of our equally amazing volunteers who keep this fantastic jewel-in-our-midst alive and thriving. I've also enjoyed sharing with you some fun and imaginative repurposing projects and store news as one of a couple of voices on the store's Facebook pages.

 

But change is waiting for me on the other side of that proverbial door. By the end of June, I, too, must pass - and get on with other projects on my life's to-do list. I'm not going anywhere - not in a literal sense anyway. For the time being, I plan to remain here in the community, so you'll definitely still bump into me at the store as I pick and poke through the bins and scan the "Wall of Intrigue" for some awesome little do-dads to incorporate in my assemblage art. And I'll still be out there scouring the countryside in search of the very best creative-reuse artists to bring to The I.D.E.A. Store's March 2014 reprise of "Hatch."

 

Since the first day I stepped into the store - which happened to be the first day it was open - I've worked hard to make sure EVERYBODY knows about The I.D.E.A. Store. Nothing delights me more than being somewhere and hearing someone say, "Oh, The I.D.E.A. Store ... I LOVE that place!" Hopefully, others who share my missionary-like zeal for this sparkling gem will step up and carry the public relations/communications torch into the future.

 

And while this may be farewell for me, it is by no means the end of the store leadership team's efforts to communicate with you! Gail, Carol Jo and the rest of The I.D.E.A. Store team will continue to beam store news into your inboxes on a regular basis. Those communications will simply be coming to you in new and different formats. You'll still receive an e-newsletter, but it will be published monthly instead of twice monthly. Included in it will be some old, familiar features such as Carol Jo's environmental-education updates, links to fun DIY/repurposing projects, calendar items and volunteer news. But you'll also receive occasional "Green Flashes" between monthly newsletters. Be sure to click open those flashes for details about upcoming blowout sales and other timely store news!

 

Meanwhile, thanks for reading. Now, stand back and get ready for the changes coming your way. We think you're going to like them!

- Melissa Mitchell

The Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation saw a need in the community to accomplish several things: 1.  Support the arts and arts education, 2.  Support environmental education in our communities, 3. Impact the environment by reducing the rate of waste disposal, 4. create a place for everyone to have access to quality materials and 5. Support itself in light of the difficult economic times.  So donate your discards and shop re-use.  Its about making a difference!

 www.cuSchoolsFoundation.org