Good Cheer Two Thrift Store, at 11042 WA-525 in Clinton, Washington, is one storefront in a much larger anti-hunger operation that has served South Whidbey Island since 1962. What began as a small grassroots holiday charity effort has grown into an organization running a shopping-model food bank, two separate thrift stores, and a 1.5-acre organic garden that supplies fresh produce back into the food bank’s distribution, all working toward what the organization describes as its goal of a hunger-free community on South Whidbey. The Clinton store is the anchor for the southern end of the island, complementing a second Good Cheer thrift location in nearby Langley.
Unlike a typical secondhand shop that exists purely as a retail business, every purchase made at the Clinton store helps fund Good Cheer’s food bank operations, which currently serve roughly 800 families a month across South Whidbey. That direct link between the register and the food bank shelves is the store’s clearest differentiating fact: shoppers browsing for a coat or a coffee table are, in effect, funding grocery bags for island neighbors facing food insecurity, a relationship the organization states outright in its own materials.
Inside, the Clinton store carries an unusually broad mix for a thrift shop of its size: collectibles, antiques, and housewares sit alongside seasonal decorations, kitchenware, and furniture, while separate sections cover clothing, linens, and fabric for anyone sewing or crafting at home. Toys, artwork, used books, estate jewelry, and electronics round out an inventory that updates daily as donations come in from across the island, meaning regular visitors tend to find something different each time they stop by, whether they are furnishing a first apartment, hunting for a specific vintage collectible, or simply browsing the book shelves for something new to read.
Good Cheer’s reach on South Whidbey extends well past its retail floor. The organization operates with a staff of more than 20 employees supported by roughly 200 volunteers, a ratio that reflects how much of the day-to-day work, from sorting donations to staffing the checkout counter, depends on community members willing to give their time. Whidbey Island’s South End, anchored by the small unincorporated community of Clinton near the Clinton-Mukilteo ferry terminal, has long relied on organizations like Good Cheer to bridge gaps that a rural island community can face in accessing affordable goods and food, and the thrift store’s steady presence on WA-525 makes it an easy, practical stop for locals and ferry travelers alike passing through the area.
For questions about current donation policies, drop-off hours, or what the Clinton location is accepting that week, the store can be reached directly at 360-341-2880, while general food bank and administrative inquiries route through Good Cheer’s main office elsewhere on the island. The organization’s website, goodcheer.org, and its published materials make clear that the thrift stores are not a side project but a core part of how the food bank sustains its work.
Good Cheer Two Thrift Store in Clinton is more than a place to find secondhand furniture, clothing, and collectibles on South Whidbey Island: it is a working piece of a food bank system that has fed island families since 1962, where every purchase helps stock the shelves of Good Cheer’s shopping-model food bank.
