Several weeks ago, I had a truly fabulous shopping experience that was of almost no benefit to me.

I am going to start this off by saying I truly enjoy the journey that is shopping second hand. I am fine to go in a regular retail store and look through the carefully coordinated outfits of that season, all pristine and still bearing the tags that often make me want to drop them like a hot potato (the tags, not the clothes).

However, in addition to being more expensive, the experience for me somehow lacks the sense of fun that you get when you are perusing the random offerings of a yard sale, thrift store or consignment shop.

Do I have items in my closet that, to this day, don’t have complimentary articles of clothing to make them a complete outfit? Absolutely. My closet could reasonably be viewed as a work in progress to some. But for a deal shopper, the thrill of the chase – of finding the perfect shrug for the perfect tank or a gorgeous article of clothing you wonder how anybody could part with – makes it more than an exercise in functionality.

I recently took that treasure hunting mindset along on a visit to the Just Kids secondhand shop that May Memorial Baptist Church opened in June in the church’s youth building. The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays and sells clothing and shoes only for $2 a bag full.

When I was interviewing Sandra Cowles, the driving force behind the shop, about why she wanted to open Just Kids, I was automatically appreciative. She recognized a hole left by the closing of the Clothes Closet, which was formerly operated by the Woman’s Club of Powhatan, and wanted to help one of the more vulnerable populations – parents with young children – impacted by the closing.

Since it is a children’s shop that sells only clothes newborn to size 8, it didn’t automatically seem like a natural fit for me. After all, I have no children and all of my nieces and nephews are grown.

But I do have a friend who just had a baby in April and has multiple other children. I was eager to stretch my dollars and offer her some quality clothes to lighten the load since there were several years between the newborn and her youngest girl, making for a decided lack of hand-me-downs.

I checked with her first, calling to make sure she was OK with secondhand clothes, which she was, saying she trusted my judgement since she couldn’t make it there herself that day. Then I headed over on my lunch break and started searching for cute outfits for a baby girl. I didn’t have to look far, soon having a great stack of clothes to help clothe my friend’s baby from late summer into the fall.

Even though the friend said she trusted my judgement, I wanted to be sure. So, with the permission and indulgent smiles of the ladies in the shop – Sandra Cowles and Pat Cover – I did a quick video chat with my friend, holding up the little girl outfits with pride. Fortunately, she liked almost all of my choices, which made me feel great because she can be particular. The one outfit she didn’t want for the baby was cute but had sleeves that ride up on arm and can be irritating to them, she told me.

As my friend gave the green light on each outfit, Ms. Cover was there to help me take the clothing off the hangers, fold them neatly and put them in the bags. She didn’t throw the clothes in willy nilly – she packed those articles of clothing in the bags like she was maneuvering Tetris pieces to find the right fit and maximize the space. To say I got my money’s worth - $2 a bag – would be a drastic understatement.

Everything about the experience was fantastic, but the part that made it the best was Sandra Cowles’ vision for creating a resource that could help families struggling but still wanting to give their children quality clothes and the church’s willingness to let that vision come to life.

Laura McFarland may be reached at Lmcfarland@powhatantoday.com.

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