After her daughter started her own charitable nonprofit, Layne Zagorski of Clifton Park came up with an unusual idea to support it.
Her business is called Lockers of Love, and it works by collecting donations of anything from furniture to sporting goods, and putting them in a storage locker. Most items will be accepted as long as they are in working condition. When the locker is filled up, it is then sent to auction and 50 percent of the profits go to a charity designated for each locker.
The Zagorski family is no stranger to charity. Twelve-year-old Skye Zagorski won the Kohl’s department store regional title for the “Kohl’s Cares for Kids” search for her charity work for the Albany Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital.
When Skye won the regional title, she decided to create her own foundation called “Reach the Skye.” The mother and daughter now work with their separate organizations to raise money for charities around the area.
Zagorski thought of the Lockers of Love idea one day when watching the TV show “Storage Wars.”
“The show gave me the idea to see if we can get lockers filled up and then do it for charity,” said Zagorski.
Zagorski’s stepson helps with the auctions, and created his own auction site where the lockers are put up for auction. At craigsbayauctions.com the lockers are put up and bid on. Proceeds from the sale of the first locker went to Chabad, a Jewish outreach group.
Zagorski believes that this business is a win-win for everyone. Donors can clear out their unwanted or unused goods, and the proceeds help benefit people in need. Soon, nonprofit organizations will be able to sign up for a locker to benefit their charity, then the group can use its own efforts to help get donations to fill up the locker.
“We encourage people to donate their unwanted goods,” said Zagorski. “This would be a worthy place to donate, or to be considered for having an auction for their group.”
If you have any items that you would like to donate, or if your charity would like to be considered as a locker recipient, call Layne Zagorski at 371-4054 or 878-7468.
