SUN CITY — The story behind Sun City Thrift Shop goes beyond the vases and charms you'll find inside. It's in honor of Angelo White's wife Lupe.
White says she was murdered in the Valley in 1984, while he was serving over seas.
"She was just a very giving person, a very warm person," White said. "We met going to school, so I just wanted to do something to help kids do the same thing we did."
White created a scholarship in Lupe's name. Plaques on the shop's wall show just how many people it has benefited.
"My first scholarship we gave away, it was $250," White said. "Last year, we gave away $25,000."
For the past seven years, White says 80 percent of the sales made from the shop go straight into the pockets of teachers and kids. Just last week, he filled totes with school supplies and gave them to smiling educators.
"It just touched our hearts how appreciative they were that someone was helping them out," White said.
White has now put together a supply room with items like pencil sharpeners, pens and markers. He says teachers can take the supplies, free of charge, whenever their supplies run low.
White says it's a way to give back to those who help make the future brighter, while keeping the memory of Lupe alive.
"All I'm trying to do is carry on her name and her spirit of giving," White said. "The only thing that truly makes me happy is to give to other people."
Sun City Thrift Shop is located off 107th and Peoria avenues.
For more information about White's non-profit "Education For Life", click here.
