Thrift shop, OPB offer ‘helping hands’

Just as its name implies, the 4 a Cause Thrift Shop in southwest Medford wants to help nonprofit agencies that have a goal of bettering our community.

“Our goal is to be helping hands for the community,” says Tanci VanCamp, manager of the thrift shop. “The way that we do that is by accepting gently used items from our community and reselling them at low cost to people who just don’t have a lot of dollars.”

The store offers everything from tools to clothes and kitchenware to antiques. Something new comes through the door every day, and they work quickly to ensure a steady supply of goods are ready for sale.

“Our ultimate goal is to be able to give away dollars every single month from our profits or our proceeds to the other local community projects, smaller nonprofits who just don’t get a lot of attention,” Tanci says. “They’re doing really cool things, and we just want to be there to support them.”

When Tanci was looking for a financial partner to get the business going, she was impressed with Oregon Pacific Bank’s shared philosophy toward improving the community.

“I’ve been banking with Oregon Pacific Bank since the very beginning,” she says. “What drew me to them is when I went on their website and I saw their community involvement, the fact that they actually go out and volunteer, I thought that was pretty amazing.”

Dawn Hartley, Relationship Banking Officer at our Medford Branch, says it has been great working with Tanci and seeing her business develop. The key has been having a strong business relationship.

“As a banker, I need to understand what drives her and what she wants to accomplish,” Dawn says. “Once I know those things about a nonprofit or a business, I can assist them with all of the products and services that we can offer them to be successful.”

Tanci says it took some effort to learn all the ins and outs of starting her nonprofit business, but she’s glad she had someone to help walk her through it. For example, OPB helped her set up a point-of-sale system.

“I did need a bank that was willing to work with me and help me on the financial side, as far as what I needed to do,” she says.

Tanci looks forward to continuing to serve her customers, and she says she appreciates how easy it is to reach someone at OPB whenever she needs help or has a question.

“I love when I call Oregon Pacific Bank that they know who I am when I call,” she says. “They’re ready to assist me, and I couldn’t ask for anything better.”