There are few events on NYU Abu Dhabi’s campus that culminate in more than fifty people congregating in one room. The Second Chance Store exceeds the magnitude of any other event — imagine Black Friday sales in New York City but on Saadiyat. The store is now starting its third installment, with the last one having served almost a thousand community members over a weekend.

In January this year, long lines of people queued from 5:00 a.m. till 9:30 a.m., when the gates in the A3 building opened to a shopper’s paradise. The rules of the games are simple: on day one, you pay a 10 AED entrance fee and you get to pick 10 items in 20 minutes. On day two, shoppers are allowed to take anything they want over the whole day. There are two rooms: one for clothes, the other for miscellaneous items like toys, electronics and gym accessories. Photograph by Garreth Chan

Asitha and Buddhika, a couple who work together at Serco, managed to fetch a lot of souvenir decorations for their room, including a fancy ship structure which they think is from Egypt.

“We really enjoy the store because it is like a game. You have little time and there are too many good things,” said Asitha, who began to queue at 5:00 a.m. outside A3. On the second day, they collected a bag full of baby clothes, which they sent back to Sri Lanka for the children in their community who cannot afford new clothes and toys.

Liria Gjidija, Associate Director at the Office of Social Responsibility, vividly remembers the sultry afternoon in May, almost a year­­­ ago, when she returned to her office after a break and found a huge surprise waiting for her. What used to resemble an ordinary office with an ordinary desk was now filled from floor to ceiling with items ranging from clothing to electronics left behind by students.

“I was in conversation with Residential Education for the book buyback program and they asked me if I was interested in taking the sheets and linens that students were leaving behind. At that moment, I wondered why not. Sure. More for our staff,” recalled Gjidija, whose office, now located near the reception in the Campus Centre, still bears the remnants of a thrift store with printers, play stations and novels randomly scattered around

The community-wide initiative also requires participation and coordination from multiple stakeholders on campus. This year they will be collaborating with the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha to sort and organize the donations over the summer.

“I love the fact that the second chance store is one of the few initiatives on campus that brings students, faculty members, staff and contract staff members together on this mission to promote sustainability and give items in our community a second chance,” said Gjidija.

The initiative has seen a gradual increase in quality with the types of donations received from everyday clothes to higher end items like espresso machines and kindle books now. Gjidija remembers the first time she was managing the store: “Students were dumping everything into the bins.”

“After the success of the first store, students realized where the things they were giving away were going because the second time around we received freshly dried sheets and bags that had folded clothes. It really bolstered my faith in this community,” added Gjidija.

The more high end products are raffled off to visitors after the event. Buddhika was one of the lucky visitors who won a Nook this year— an apt prize as she has been enrolled in the Intermediate English class offered by the department for two years.

Even after a thousand members ravaged the store, there were items left behind, some of which the Arts Centre took for a performance and others donated to the Operation Smile donation box on campus.

“Earlier this year, the Trisha Brown Dance Company was visiting and one of their requirements for every local venue they were performing in was 100 pieces of clothing. They tied the clothes to ropes in different locations around campus…. and like the Second Chance Store, both brought the community together,” said Lindsey Botswick, Senior Producer at the Arts Centre, discussing the Arts Center performance that used the leftovers from the Second Chance Store.

Image courtesy of NYUAD Arts Center

Having lived in New York City for almost 20 years, Botswick grew up with thrift store aesthetics. She reminisced about her childhood when her mother would take her to thrift stores and garage sales.

“My mother told me, what makes you think you are better than everyone else to not buy things here?… It really helped me see things in a different perspective — it’s this idea of passing your things along and the clothes finding a reused and renewed sense of identity,” Botswick also visited the store as a shopper this semester where she found a sweater, and volunteered to sort clothes.

This semester, donation boxes will be placed in residential buildings from the 16th to the 25th of May. Gjidija urges community members to be thoughtful in their donations and realize that other community members will be using the items.

“We ask that people give donations that are gently used and clean. It really makes a difference on the receiving end,” Gjidija added.