Out with the old

Welcome back to another Spotlight Series with Sarah!
The series where the writer gets to know the city more personally, while the readers get to know the writer better in the process.
Ever since I started my column in March 2024, I’ve been writing about services I’ve received in the City of Wayne. However, this edition is going to be a little different. I want to shine a spotlight on services I (and you) can provide to the city.
If you’re like me, every year or two I like to go through my belongings and get rid of items I no longer need/use. Whether it be clothing, shoes, bags, coats, hats, books, doesn’t matter. I like to donate things I haven’t touched in months to minimize the clutter in my space and home.
So around mid-August 2025 I started going through my clothes and created donation bags for all the clothes I no longer wanted to keep. Then I went through my shoes, my bags/purses, my hats, my coats, and so on.
I ended up with five trash bags of clothing, one trash bag of shoes, one Kroger bag of books, a box of miscellaneous items, including: purses, bags, a backpack, bath bombs, a jar, school supplies, and organizer trays, and lastly, a zip lock bag of old prescription glasses and a zip lock bag of old cellphones that I wanted to donate.
On Friday, January 2nd, I labeled all the bags with their drop-off destination, loaded them into the trunk of my car, and began my donation drop-off adventure in Wayne.
My first donation stop on Friday was STEP Thrift Store and Donation Center. I donated two bags of clothes and one bag of books. An employee met me at the back door and took my donations inside and placed them in their appropriate donations bin.

You can donate your old cell phones at the UAW Local 900.

Services To Enhance Potential (STEP) is a non-profit organization which provides support and services to nearly 1,300 persons with disabilities and other mental health needs in Wayne County.
About 70% of the staff at STEP Thrift Store have disabilities.
STEP Thrift Store has a color tag of the week that is 50% off Monday – Saturday. If you find an item with that specific color tag on Sunday, that item is 99 cents. The color changes every Monday.
STEP Thrift Store also offers a VIP program that you can join to earn 5% off every time you shop. You just need to share your name, phone number, and email address, and you will receive coupons via email throughout the year for your birthday and flash sales.
If you’d like to donate any item, you can drop it off any day of the week. Simply bring your donations in at least 30 minutes before closing.
STEP Thrift Store and Donation Center is located at 35004 W Michigan Ave, and is open 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday – Saturday, and 12 – 5 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information about STEP Thrift Store and Donation Center, visit stepcentral.org or call (734)728-9777.
My second donation stop on Friday was Lighthouse Home Mission (LHM). I donated two bags of clothes (including: two coats, socks, winter hats, baseball hats, swimsuits), one bag of shoes, and some hygiene products. I also bought some paper towels, paper plates, and plastic cutlery for the warming center.
I knocked on the warming center’s door after 7 p.m. and the volunteers took my donations.
In partnership with the Full Gospel Temple Church, LHM has a food pantry, clothing pantry, soup kitchen, and warming center. LHM offers assistance for mental illness, recovery programs, domestic violence, obtaining IDs and birth certificates, employment opportunities, and more.
If you’d like to help, the warming center needs the following items: winter apparel (coats, gloves, boots, socks), men’s underwear, hygienic items, cleaning supplies, coffee, canned goods, paper plates, and plastic utensils. There is a large need for men’s winter coats size XL-5XL.
LHM is in need of volunteers for the soup kitchen, clothing pantry, food pantry, and warming center.
LHM also does a yard sale twice a year (in April and September). They are in need of items to be donated, volunteers for donation pickups, and volunteers during the yard sale.
If you’re interested in volunteering for the warming shelter, call Rev. Tim Cokely at (734)326-3333. If you’re interested in any of the other volunteer opportunities with LHM, call (734)326-3885.
Lighthouse Home Mission and Full Gospel Temple Church is located at 34033 Palmer Rd, Westland. For more information about Full Gospel Temple Church, visit fgtonline.org.

Donations loaded up in car.

My third donation stop on Monday, January 5th, during my lunch break was St. Mary Community Outreach Center. I donated one bag of clothes and one box of items such as: purses, bags, a backpack, bath bombs, a jar, school supplies, and organizer trays.
I brought my donations inside the Outreach Center and left them by the back wall.
The St. Mary Community Outreach Center consists of the Open Closet Clothing Bank and the Food Depot.
The Open Closet Clothing Bank is open 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. There is a $2 entrance fee to get in and then you can pick clothing/items you want.
Clients have 20 minutes to shop the racks. They have options from clothing, shoes, bedding, small household items, kitchen appliances, kids’ toys, car seats, luggage, etc. It all depends on what items people have donated.
The Food Depot is open 9 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Monday – Friday, where people can receive a basket of food.
Those in need can call to make an appointment, or brand-new families/individuals can just show up so they can get put into the system. Adult ID is now required for everyone.
If you’d like to help, the Outreach Center accepts the following items: clothing, small household items, and food that is not open or expired.
St. Mary Parish is located at 34530 W Michigan Ave. The St. Mary Community Outreach Center is located at 34646 Sims St.
You can drop off clothing donations in the parking lot off Sims St. during the clothing bank hours, and you can drop off food donations to the parking lot off 2nd St.
For more information about St. Mary Parish, call (734)721-8745 (press 2) or visit their website at stmarywayne.org. You can find them on Facebook by searching “St. Mary Catholic Church Wayne, MI.”
My fourth and final donation stop on Monday, also during my lunch break, was UAW Local 900. I donated six of my old cellphones.
The doors to the UAW are locked. I pressed the intercom button, informed them I wanted to drop off a donation, and was buzzed in. I left my old cellphones in the Cell Phones for Soldiers box in the lobby. 
 UAW Local 900 has hosted and participated in events such as: Red Cross blood drives, food drives, food banks, coat drives, back-to-school drive with Hill Crest Bible Church, Adopt an Angel with Wayne-Westland Goodfellows, Trunk-or-Treat, Stuff the Bronco, Stuff the Bus, and much more.   
If you’d like to get involved or support the UAW Local 900, they collect Cell Phones for Soldiers with the Wayne Police Department, or you can drop off gently used clothing that they share with Veteran’s Haven or Lighthouse Church.  
UAW Local 900 is located at 38200 Michigan Ave in Wayne and is open 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday – Friday.  
For more information about UAW Local 900 or upcoming events, you can find them on Facebook by searching “UAW Local 900” or call (734)721-2530. 
UAW Local 900 no longer collects eyeglasses for Lions Club, so I still have three pairs of old prescription glasses that I’d like to donate.  
If you know of any other donation drop-off locations in Wayne, especially for glasses, please reach out to the Wayne Dispatch at (734)641-6550 so I can shine a spotlight on them as well. 
Be sure to donate or get involved and be on the lookout for the next Spotlight Series with Sarah!