When Second Chance Thrift Store Manager Laura Curley and her army of volunteers found out that one of their own — Mike Maxwell, who hails from Missouri but has been living with his son in Marshalltown — needed surgery on his spine and had to come up with $3,500 to make it happen, all Curley had to do was put out a call for help.

“I sent out a text to all these amazing people, and they’ve surpassed it. And within four days, they all gave. I’m just like a proud mom right now,” she said.

It was an especially proud moment as Curley has only served as the manager for the last month or so, and she couldn’t speak highly enough of Maxwell’s work ethic as a volunteer — he was at the store “morning through night” six days a week for the last several months.

“He was here more than any of us,” she said. “This was like his sanctuary. We all work hard, but we have a lot of fun while we’re doing it. And it just made him not think about the pain, so that was a positive for him.”

Maxwell’s passion for the store blossomed after he came in one day looking for books and eventually offered his help in any way it was needed, joining a stable of 30 to 40 active volunteers who donate their time and labor to keep the store, which is operated by the local Christian nonprofit Jonathan House International, running strong.

“I believe that we’re family, and God is our leader,” Volunteer Shirley Schuping said.

The store runs on donations of clothing and other items, and the proceeds from their sales are invested in an orphanage, schools and churches in the West African country of Sierra Leone, which has been devastated by civil war.

Roger Hatch is the local leader of Jonathan House International and said the Second Chance store has been around for about 15 years. A contractor by trade, he got interested in Sierra Leone after traveling there 22 years ago in the aftermath of the civil war to work on a damaged hospital and seeing large groups of kids sleeping in the streets.

“We started an orphanage, and then we just continued to grow and grow and grow. We’ve had hundreds of kids now, and we’re building clinics and doing a lot of medical work,” Hatch said.

A Bible verse, Hosea 14:3, adorns each volunteer’s shirt: “For in you, O Lord, the orphan finds love, compassion and mercy.”

Donations to benefit Mike Maxwell are still being accepted and can be dropped off at the store, which is located at 230 S. 3rd Ave. Currently, there is not a Gofundme or digital option, but it may be added in the future.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

maharry@timesrepublican.com.