Rev John

I am trying hard to follow what the lord is telling me to do. And he guided me to write you a letter after I sent an earlier email about assisting with a loan.

The guidance I was given was to tell you about me and to tell you why I want the loan.

First about me, as a child and teen I was what some would call an animal lover. I thought that was what I was being called to do. Believing that “for the dear God who madeth us he made and loveth all.”

In collage I saw a news report about some starving horses in Corpus Christi and contacted our vet and he agreed to take the horses and make them well. I named one Sparkle because she only had a spark of life left in her when she was rescued.

I then saw some newspaper articles about hunters that were going out and chasing down Mountain Lions and shooting them just for fun. I drafted a bill and I found a sponsor for it in the Texas Legislature. I thought the bill was fair, it would allow folks to shoot Mountain Lions if they got a permit stating that the Mountain Lion was killing their livestock or causing some harm to the community. I was surprised when I went to testify at the subcommittee on my bill that I had the strong Texas Goat and Sheep herders Association there to lobby against the bill. They did not want any restrictions placed on their ability to kill Mountain Lions. My bill died in committee.

I continued to think that I wanted to be a wildlife manager until I took a vertebrate zoology class a requirement to get a degree in Wildlife Management. I had to drop the class when the professor said that 90% of our grade was based on killing and preserving animals for the lab and that each animal that we killed and preserved would be worth one tenth of a point. I couldn’t do it. So I changed my major and decided that I would major in Political science so that I could learn how to help the animals using the legislature and the law. I did get my degree in Political Science and had been accepted to Law School in Houston Texas but could not afford to pay for it. So I joined the Air Force as an Officer thinking that I would be able to save up for law school when I got out.

In the Air Force I was a trail blazer. The US Congress had just passed legislation that said that they wanted women to be in non traditional roles and I was selected to be among the first female Aircraft Maintenance Officers. I did well at this, my unit was awarded numerous honors and usually my unit was rated the highest at each of the bases I was assigned too. I had a sense of purpose believing that I was serving my country . I then met and married a fighter pilot. He was told that he would not be given a fighter squadron as long as I was active duty because the general did not think that I could do my job as an Air Force Officer as well as the duties required of a military squadron commanders wife. I got out to support his career and raise our two children. I did what I could again to help others in this role. When we were assigned to Guam I discovered that families were having to go through twice daily power outages. This was hard enough on my kids who were older but the families that had small babies were really finding it hard to feed their kids, heat bottles, etc with the power outage. I wrote a letter to Chief of Staff of the Air Force and he got generators sent in so that the people on base had power when Guam shut down the power to the base.

After giving up my career for my husband as he got ready to retire he also decided to leave the family for another women. I believed that I had married for life and could not understand how the “no fault” divorce laws meant that if one person wanted a divorce that they automatically got one. I tried to fight for my marriage and to end the no fault divorce laws but the lobby for divorce lawyers again was stronger then I was.

As a single mom, I chose to focus on raising my children and supporting them. However, after not working out side the home it was hard to get a job. I really wanted to open up what I called at the time a Thrift and Gift. The concept in my mind was more of a community center for single moms. I wanted it to be a place where single moms could come and bring their children and learn skills or have classes where they could learn how to say sew and sell their items in the Gift portion of the store and they could sell old clothes or other items on consignment in the Thrift portion. The kids at the center would also learn crafts or study and be tutored. With no support from my Dad, my only living relative, I gave up the idea.

I went back to school and got my teaching certificate but quickly learned that it was not for me. I wanted to teach but the vast majority of the students did not want to learn and the schools had no way for us to kick the disruptive students out of the class.

I got my Realtors license but again this was not for me. I was not interested in trying to talk people into homes just so I could make some money.

I tried Sam’s Club and was a nightshift merchandiser of clothing. But the overnight shift took to much of a toll on my health. My body just could never adjust to working at night and trying to sleep during the day. I had to give that up.

I then took a job as a Waitress at a Denny’s. I enjoyed being around people and in an odd sort of way thought that I was doing good by being a good server. While at this job I happened to run across a box that someone had left with two tiny kittens in it. I took them to the local animal shelter but they said they were going to have to put them down because they had to be bottle feed and they didn’t have the staff to do that. One they said would definitely not survive but the other one they didn’t know. So I took that one and found a lady that took in feral kittens such as the one I had. While talking to her she mentioned that she worked for Goodwill and that they could probably use someone like me. So I applied for a supervisor’s position at the Oak Hill store.

I worked at the Oak Hill store for three months before moving to the Lake Austin Store as the Assistant Manager. I then took over as Manager in Nov of 2007. While part of Goodwill’s mission is “helping put people to work with barriers to employment” that did not seem to apply to the stores. I made that my personal mission. I hired mainly ex felons and was very proud of the fact that I was helping people get back to work. My store was also a financial success. It went from a monthly sales of $66,000 in Jan 2007 to sales of over $134,000 in Oct of 2009. But while I was good at running a store I was not good at politics. I asked too many questions. Like why couldn’t I give the towels and blankets that we couldn’t sell because they were stained to the animal shelter? Why couldn’t I give a pair of pants that we couldn’t sell to a homeless person? Why didn’t we offer free clothes to the victims of the Galveston hurricane instead of selling them to them? Why when Goodwill made so much money could we not pay our employees a better wage?

On Nov 13, 2009 I was suspended from my job because they said that “I was violating company policy” by allowing employees to purchase from the bid case. There was a rule that employees could not buy from the store they worked in because they thought that would lead to employees marking things cheaper and then buying it. Or hiding things until they could buy them. When I worked at the Oak Hill store and again when I went to the Lake Austin store I was told that the items in Bid Case were allowed to be purchased by employees because they were items that customers and employees alike could bid on so the idea of stashing or of under pricing did not exist. The bid sheets that the company had for us to use even said that employees could bid. So I was surprised when they fired myself, my assistant manager, and both my supervisors for “violating” company policy on Nov 22, 2009. The manager that had been at the store before me was written up and suspended for three days for having allowed it two years prior.

Now out of a job I realized that I really have a passion and the knowledge to run a Thrift store and look at this as God’s way of putting me where he wants me. I have found a location where I can open a Thrift Store and actually help the community. Goodwill had it’s place 50 years ago when there weren’t agencies to help people put together resumes, teach interviewing skills, and job assistance. But today there are state agencies and a lot of private groups that also help those looking for jobs. Goodwill at least in Austin has just become a large organization who makes a ton of money and really does not give back to the community the way I think it should. My store would give to any organization that the donors wanted their donation to benefit. We would give the old towels and blankets that we couldn’t sell to the humane society or local animal shelter. We would give a pair of pants to a person in need even if we could sell the pants. We would take the old appliances and offer free classes on small appliance repair. We would take old furniture and have classes on how to do furniture repair. We would have space to offer for fundraisers for the community. We would strive everyday to help our community.

I have a business plan and figure that I need $150,000 to start this business. That money would cover opening the store and paying employees while the word got out about us. I believe that I can pay the money back in less then a year. I would even be willing to pay back double what is loaned in two years if necessary. Though I would rather use that money to open another location in town.

This is the season of miracle and I am hoping for one. I want to put myself and the employees who also lost their job back to work and start to help others in need.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and God Bless.

Cherlyn Gerland

I know this will happen

I know that there is someone out there or multiple someones who will recognize that this is a worthy investment.

I have to keep the faith

I can not give up somehow someone will help or multiple someones.

Our First Angel/Believer/Investor

Today Tina gave me $2.00 towards this project. Tina is a wonderful person. She worked for me at Goodwill and was one of the hardest workers I had. She could always be counted on to do the right thing. She is also one of the folks that I want to help put back to work in this new store.

A business is all about numbers. So is this project to find every day folks who want to invest a little money and do a good thing for others. I got to thinking that if 3000 folks from each state were to invest a dollar each we would make our goal. So far Texas is ahead with $2.00. As a military brat, prior service myself, and military spouse, I have been in all but three states. So I know that the folks in this country are not only wonderful but usually will help and underdog and that is what we are. We are going to open up this Thrift store and then more and do more for the community then the current big box store Thrift Stores in this town that have forgotten what it really means to serve the community.

Still no angels

I sure had a lot of typo's in my message last night. Comes with trying to burn the midnight oil and rack my brain to come up with the Capital needed to fund the Thrift Store. Some may wonder who will benefit from the proceeds. A lot of folks. Unlike the current stores in my area that serve a specific cause mine will be for the community. Any organization that sends their donors to us will benefit from the store. I have a special place in my heart for the Humane Society and would also try to help the City Animal Shelter to become a no kill shelter. As a veteran, I also have a fondness for causes such as the Wounded Warrior Project. But there are so many good organizations that need funding and any one who wants us to donate to that organization will have our pledge to do so. We want to help serve our community but need help in getting it started...we have the expertise to keep it running and a proven track record of success for a company that I think lost it's soul.

Need Some Angels

I recently lost a job that I really loved. I managed a Thrift store and quite frankly I was good at it. I made the company a lot of money. But, I was not a politician and asked too many questions. Like why this company made as much money as it did and yet paid it's employees just a little more then minimum wage? Why didn't it have better health care coverage for all employees? Why couldn't I give towel and blankets that were too stained to sell to the local animal shelter? Why did they have so many conflicting rules and why did some get fired for vioating them and others didn't? And I also had a hard time trying to figure out where the money went.

But they say that when God closes a door somewhere a window opens. I beleive that is true. I know how to run a successful Thrift store and so decided that I could take that talent and open my own store that would truely help the community. I could put over 20 people to work at a better rate of pay then my previous employer and I believe that I would treat my employees a lot better. I have a location picked out and a business plan developed BUT the site won't be available for long and trying to find funding in this ecomomy is almost impossible.

To get this business up and running and sustained for a coouple of months it will take about $150,000. As I thought tonight about the daunting task of trying to find an angel donor or capital investor I also thought of the fact that there are probably regular folks out there that could help. I got to thinking that maybe there might be 150,000 people who might be willing to loan me a dollar if I promised to pay back double what they gave. I would do that by paying back in the order that the loan was given. If I am not able to get the store then I would simply refund the amount loaned. This may sound silly to some but what have I got to lose. I know what I have to offer. A job for myself and 19 other, a store that would give back to the community in a way that isn't currently beinng done and I would post that information also. I don't have a lot of time to get this done I am afraid that the location may be gone if I can't raise the funds by the 1st of the year.

So if you are interested in being an angel donor there is a link where you can donate. I will post angels on this blog unless you do not want me too. Please pass this on to anyone that you think might be willing to help. Thank you.