Behind the racks of clothing and shelves of housewares at Treasures, a thrift store at 114A Johnston Street in Longview, Texas, sits a faith-based mission rather than a typical retail business plan. Treasures is operated by Care Drops International, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that describes its purpose as glorifying God by providing affordable donated merchandise in a dignified retail setting, with every sale helping fund the organization’s broader ministerial projects. That structure makes the store part thrift shop and part fundraising engine, similar in spirit to other donation-based nonprofit resale stores but distinct in the specific mission driving it: rather than existing purely to move secondhand goods, Treasures exists to keep Care Drops International’s humanitarian and ministry work funded through everyday retail.
The Longview store carries an unusually broad range of donated categories for a shop its size, including clothing, shoes, and accessories, furniture and home decor, electronics such as laptops, computers, and flat-screen televisions, small kitchen and household appliances, books, DVDs, and CDs, sporting goods and exercise equipment, and toys, games, and antiques. That breadth means a single visit might turn up anything from a working laptop to a vintage side table, which gives the store a treasure-hunt quality that keeps regular shoppers coming back to see what has arrived since their last visit. The shop does draw some clear lines on what it will take in, declining damaged goods, older box-style televisions, and mattresses, a policy that helps keep the sales floor stocked with usable, sellable merchandise rather than items destined for disposal.
Treasures keeps generous hours for a nonprofit thrift store, open Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and the shop accepts donations at any point during those open hours rather than restricting drop-offs to a narrow window, which makes it simple for Longview residents to bring in items whenever they happen to be clearing out a closet or garage. The Johnston Street address sits in Longview, a Gregg County city in East Texas known for its oil industry roots and its role as a regional shopping and services hub for surrounding smaller towns, which gives the store a steady flow of both everyday shoppers and donors from across the wider Longview area.
What distinguishes Treasures from a purely commercial thrift operation is the direct line between what shoppers pay at checkout and the humanitarian work Care Drops International carries out elsewhere, including its connection to a related outreach effort known as One Step Out, suggesting the organization’s reach extends beyond the walls of the Johnston Street storefront into broader community and ministry initiatives. For donors, that means giving away a used sofa or a box of children’s clothes accomplishes more than simple decluttering, it funds work the nonprofit considers part of its core religious and humanitarian purpose. For shoppers, it means the low prices typical of thrift shopping come paired with the knowledge that the money supports a specific, faith-driven mission rather than disappearing into a purely commercial bottom line. Treasures in Longview is a nonprofit thrift store where affordable secondhand shopping directly funds Care Drops International’s ministerial and humanitarian projects.
