This column was inspired by a group of Lake Lure volunteers who regularly perform community service behind the scenes and “under the surface.” It has covered the lake, rivers, trails, people, plants and bugs. This month it’s about animals.
Last summer, I told you about the Yokefellow Service Center in Spindale that provides housing support, food, clothing, pharmacy assistance and other help to our (human) neighbors in need. Through its five nonprofit beneficiaries, that is what Lil’s Thrift Shop in Lake Lure does for animals, and in 2025 Lil’s did that in a big way. In December 2025, they gave $10,000 checks to each of those five organizations so that those five could, in turn, “save, feed, house, spay/neuter and vaccinate” lost, unwanted, hungry, abused, injured, neglected, feral or otherwise homeless dogs and cats in our county. “Small and mighty,” Lil’s gives every penny of net proceeds to Rutherford County nonprofits who focus on animal welfare.
When I asked Lil’s Board President Betty Martinez Lowery why animals are a priority amid significant economic hardship for the county’s human residents, she had a ready answer: “There is room for both!” In late 2024, Lil’s transformed the retail shop into a temporary distribution center, offering free furniture, household goods and necessities to people who had been displaced by Hurricane Helene. They opened a Christmas pop-up shop to raise money for the Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach and food pantry in Lake Lure, NC. They provided a warm dry place to come in from the cold.
The idea to reassign some of Lil’s resources to humans came from those same animal welfare nonprofits who took in pets from families dislocated by the flooding. Due to lack of shelter or loss of income, or both, many people had to surrender their furry family members to pet shelters. Rutherford County Animal Control did not collect or report numbers for the last quarter of 2024, presumably because of post-hurricane disruptions to services. However, in the first two months of 2025, Animal Control took in 132 “picked up or surrendered” cats and dogs. At the time of this writing, they alone – in partnership with Heart of the Foothills Animal Rescue — have more than 115 animals in custody. Thus, whether because of economic downturn, natural disaster, or simple failure to prevent the births of thousands of unwanted animals, “the need is great and never-ending.”
Over time I have discovered that Lil’s meets other needs, too. My neighbors volunteer because they believe in the mission but also because they like being with their co-workers. Lil’s has a mutually supportive community of 36 volunteers (plus their spouses who help carry and deliver and do other tasks). Locals and visitors shop there because it is a nearby place to find a gift, or holiday décor, or furnishings for their new mountain home. Some use it as a kind of marketplace; they post index cards with their wishes – a set of utensils, a Scrabble game, a standing lamp, etc. – that Lil’s will fulfil when the matching donations come in. It is a convenient place to donate gently used household items, particularly when moving house. Some people stop by just in hopes of running into one another. When I donated an artificial Christmas tree, I received not one or two but THREE huge grateful hugs from two volunteers who were working that day. You don’t get that just anywhere!
Lil’s is doing good and filling needs, but they have needs, too. They need more space, having lost 30% of their previous space last year. They need a longer lease or money to buy their own building. They need additional volunteers to staff the shop more than four days a week. Betty Martinez Lowery thinks they can do it. To reinforce the point, she quotes Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” With our help, Lil’s Thrift Shop can keep doing what they do for the animals … and for us humans too.