SOUTH BEND — The hundred or so people milling around tables in the parking lot of First Christian Church on Saturday were there for economic survival rather than spiritual revival: A clothing swap put on by a woman who has lived here less than a year.

Julie Williams started doing things like this in San Diego when she formed an organization to provide needed items to the families of deployed Marines.

Her husband, a U.S. Marine Corps recruiter, is now stationed in Niles.

"I realized I could probably do something for the community," Williams said. "So, I just started asking for donations, garage sale leftovers, and just put this together."

Area businesses donated materials, and people didn’t have to bring something to take something. Saturday’s event wasn’t a church function; the church just let Williams use the parking lot.

Among the bargain hunters were James Duncan and his wife Cathy, who drove up from Walkerton to find clothing for their younger grandchildren.

"The youngest one is growing so fast," Cathy Duncan said. "There’s always people that need help."

There are four grandkids, ages 4, 6, 8 and 14.

The Duncans carried a couple bags stuffed with clothing, but the find of the day was animal stickers from Potawatomi Zoo.

"The kids will love these," Cathy Duncan said.

Events like this can help people save money in an unstable economy, said Williams, the organizer.

Seasonally adjusted U.S. retail sales for clothing and clothing accessory stores were about $17.2 billion for January 2009, down $19.1 billion from the previous January.

And while the overall trend for retail clothing stores is still upward, thrift stores also are seeing a slight uptick in business, said Robert Hren, manager of the Salvation Army Thrift Store at 510 S. Main St., in South Bend.

"People out of work. Husband got laid off, wife got laid off, hardly any money coming in, just trying to make ends meet," he said. "They’re doing a lot more shopping here than they would at Wal-Mart and places like that."

Staff writer Ed Ronco:
eronco@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6353