Millersburg’s Save & Serve Thrift Shop on Oct. 11 turned a day of shopping into a community donation drive, collecting $5,411 in proceeds and donating the entire sum to Disaster Aid Ohio. Volunteers from Disaster Aid Ohio staffed the shop’s registers throughout the benefit day, linking local volunteer labor directly with fundraising and community outreach.

Save & Serve said it hosts multiple benefit events each year, designating specific days when 100 percent of sales go to local causes. That model concentrates community giving into discrete campaigns and mobilizes volunteer effort alongside consumer traffic. For this event, the beneficiary was Disaster Aid Ohio, a volunteer organization that assists with long‑term disaster recovery and home repairs after other aid winds down — a phase frequently identified by recovery specialists as underfunded and operationally complex.

The $5,411 contribution will enter a funding stream that typically supports remediation, reconstruction of damaged homes, and repairs that enable people to remain in or return to their communities once emergency assistance from federal or state sources has tapered. For Holmes County residents affected by storms, floods or other disasters, that gap‑filling function can determine whether a household can afford necessary repairs or faces longer displacement.

Beyond the immediate financial boost, the event demonstrates several local economic dynamics. First, it channels consumer spending at a community business into charitable capital rather than into profit margins, effectively converting retail activity into targeted relief funding. Second, volunteers staffing the registers create a visible link between local nonprofit action and fundraising, which can deepen civic engagement and encourage repeat philanthropy. Third, recurring benefit days create predictable funding opportunities for smaller nonprofits that lack access to large grants, helping stabilize budgets for volunteer‑driven recovery work.

From a policy perspective, the fundraiser highlights the limits of relying on ad hoc community generosity to meet long‑term recovery needs. While $5,411 is a meaningful sum for a volunteer relief organization, long‑term rebuilding often requires sustained resources and coordination with municipal and state planning. The event may prompt local officials and nonprofit leaders to consider whether Holmes County should expand formal resilience planning or seek designated local reserve funds to complement grassroots giving when disasters strike.

For residents, Save & Serve’s model offers a practical way to support recovery efforts: by shopping on designated benefit days, consumers can direct local dollars to causes that address needs beyond immediate emergency response. As Save & Serve continues its annual calendar of benefit events, the shop and groups like Disaster Aid Ohio will remain part of the county’s informal safety net for long‑term recovery.