by Katie Patrick
For nearly a century, Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska has been providing “Hope in the Good Life” to individuals of all faiths and backgrounds across 24,000 square miles of southern Nebraska.
To celebrate, we gathered with our closest friends at the annual Celebration of Hope banquet in Lincoln Sunday, Feb. 25. It was an amazing evening of food, fellowship, and a conversation on sustainability, which is one of our core values at CSS. To share more about what sustainability means to us at CSS, let’s recap our panel discussion from that evening.
At CSS, we define sustainability as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
In 1998, we opened the St. Joseph Gift & Thrift Store in Hastings, accepting gently used items to give to clients in need or to sell. In the years that followed, we opened thrift stores in Lincoln, Auburn and Imperial. These stores not only help CSS generate revenue for our programs, but they invite us to be good stewards of the donations that we receive.
Recently, recognizing the success of our thrift stores, we started selling items online. Mario Racicot, CSS director of online sales, shared with our guests the photo of a McCoy Jack-O-Lantern that we sold on eBay for almost $300—a price far greater than what we would have been able to sell at one of our thrift stores.
Selling name brand and collector items online has enabled us to generate significantly more revenue for our programs. If you have any collector items that you would like to donate to CSS, please contact Mario directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
We also have a need for extremely worn textiles, purses, belts and shoes. John Haag, CSS Lincoln warehouse manager, talked about our recycling program. Did you know that nearly 15% of the local landfill is clothing that could have been recycled? At CSS, we sort all donations by setting aside clothing that is not well suited for our thrift stores or ecommerce. We then bale that clothing and sell it to others who give new life to those items, such as insulation, industrial rags, or sent to markets abroad.
To facilitate the collection of these items, we are expanding our donation collection program. Currently, nearly a dozen local Catholic churches host CSS trailers onsite to collect these items. If you are interested in learning more about this project and setting up a trailer or bin at your church or school, please connect with John at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. There are many exciting opportunities in the realm of sustainability, and we look forward to partnering with you!
In the end, sustainability is as simple as giving new life to items you no longer need. By prioritizing the responsible discernment of our God-given resources, your donated items help us meet the needs of those we encounter daily. Additionally, CSS will reach its 100-year anniversary in 2032, and with our sustainability endeavors and your support, we look forward to being able to provide “Hope in the Good Life” for another 100+ years!
