About

In short the FreeStore is "Goodwill with no prices." Folks donate things they no longer need. And folks who need come to the store to take what they need. Sounds too simple to work, but it does. In fact, if anything, we often have the problem of having too much stuff rather than not enough.

The Olympia Food Co-op supports this wonderful community resource by supporting the volunteers and providing our wonderful 8x8 space on the front of their Westside store on 921 N Rogers.

History

For many years there was a 'Free Box' on the front porch of the westside store of the Olympia Food Co-op. And for many years it was usually a mess. Many folks tried to keep it clean, but it was a never-ending task. Finally after a few comments from the Health Department (I told you it was a 'real' mess) the Co-op decided they needed to close the Free Box. But a good idea doesn't go away. The Co-op decided to give it another try - this time with 'Working Members' (volunteers) to act as attendants. So in the summer of 2004 a hardy group of folks stripped everything out of the Free Box space. After cleaning, painting, and rebuilding the shelving the "FreeStore" re-opened! We have been gradually been adding volunteers to keep the store open as much as possible.

If anyone has additions to the above 'short history' please email it to me ...

Other Items

Here is an article about a free store from back in the 70s.

The Vipassana Meditation I practice operates purely on gifting. Anyone may take the course for free, it is a gift. After that (and only after that) you may make a donation — not to pay for what you have received, but so that it can be gifted to others. Labor (including that of the teachers, cooks, etc.) is donated.
-- John Abbe

A gift economy is the exact opposite of capitalism. In capitalist economies, the object is for the individual to accumulate and hold on to as much wealth as is humanly (or inhumanly) possible. In a gift economy, as practiced by such cultures as the Kwakiutl and Tlingit Indians of the Northwest coast and the ancient Chinese, prestige and power are measured by how much you give away.

In our mundane world, the gift economy of course remains a Utopian ideal, impractical for meeting subsistence needs and unattractive to the culture of multinational consumerism.