Ellsworth nonprofit founder receives local chamber's highest award
Courtesy / Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce
Jacqueline Wycoff, founder of the nonprofit Community Closet in Ellsworth, will receive the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year award.
The founder of Community Closet Thrift Store in Ellsworth will receive this year’s Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year award.
Jacqueline Wycoff founded Community Closet as a thrift store, but also as a lifeline to people who lose their homes because of a disaster or economics, according to a March 18 news release. Wycoff received a large number of nominations.
The award recognizes volunteerism, involvement and advocacy.
A University of Maine at Augusta graduate, Wycoff was a librarian at Cave Hill School, Lamoine School and Mountain View School, then the full-time mother of three boys. In 2017 she read a post about an organization that allowed people to take a limited number of items of clothing. It seemed the perfect opportunity to do something with her time, but also be with her children. The Community Closet was born.
“We have racks outside our store so that all people have 24 hour access to food, or warm blankets,” Wycoff said in the release.
She has opened the store in the middle of the night to assist fire victims, who are allowed to take whatever they need at no cost, according to the release.
Regular customers are allowed to get 10 items of clothing and pay whatever they want, or nothing at all. After the 10 items, each item is $1.
Volunteers help restock shelves, sort donations and provide daily management.
Wycoff also organizes online auctions to assist with the store’s rent. She and an aunt run the Philip Carter Reading Foundation in memory of her uncle, Philip Carter, who was killed by a drunk driver. In the past three years, the foundation has given away 14,000 books and 17 book scholarships. She is also working on a fundraiser for Sullivan-based Regional School Unit 24 that will help provide safety items, including a flashing sign at the Peninsula School and front-facing cameras on all of the district school buses.
WLBZ recognized the organization in 2017 with one of its “”Agency of Distinction” Awards, for the “2 Those Who Care Awards”. The organization won the “Bangor Savings Community Matters More” campaign, as well as receiving community charitable money from other local organizations.
Wycoff will be honored at the chamber’s Annual Awards Night on May 16.
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