ditto of North Jersey – An ‘Upscale Resale’ Ministry With a Mission

Photo: ditto’s grand opening in 2010

Editor’s note: Since its inception in September of 2010, ditto, an “upscale resale” store in North Haledon, has donated over $1,750,000 to Eastern Christian School and also tithed donations to community groups and local non-profits in the amount of $150,000. The following article details ditto’s history and mission.

After Eastern Christian School decided to close their former thrift store in Hawthorne in 2009, known as the Corner Closet, the Board of Directors of Eastern Christian made a commitment to the community to re-open a larger, more convenient store as soon as a suitable location could be found. After considering several possible locations, we were directed to a truck repair business on Belmont Avenue in North Haledon as a possible location, particularly since there was adequate off street parking for 52 cars and initially provided us with nearly 11,000 square feet of retail space.

Once we agreed on a rental arrangement and coordinated a financing plan for the renovations, we, as a newly formed Board of ditto, sat down to discuss the mission statement and operating plan for this new venture.  Not knowing how successful this new venture might become, we never-the-less decided on several operational matters and made a decision that any operating profits, after all monthly expenses were covered, would be donated to our parent organization, Eastern Christian School. There was a caveat to this decision—we would also look to support local non-profit and community based organizations with donations equaling 10% of our after expense income. These donations would be calculated at the end of our fiscal year (August) and distributed to the approved organizations in the October/November time frame each year. As a Christian organization, tithing is an integral part of our DNA. This scriptural concept is observed by all of us involved with ditto as well as by millions of people worldwide who are taught to share their bounty with those who have less.

We have been in business as ditto of North Jersey at the 965 Belmont Avenue, North Haledon address since September of 2010, during which time we have experienced the Lord’s blessing on our operation from the very first day. Our community support has been remarkable in that they continue to supply us with high quality new and slightly used items for resale. We are also blessed with a strong team of committed employees as well as hundreds of volunteers who commit to helping us for prescribed periods of time each week.

We are indeed humbled by our success, and pray daily for God’s continued guidance and blessing as we serve Him in this special way. Our success has enabled us to donate over $1,750,000 to Eastern Christian School over the past 10 years and to make our tithe donations to community groups and local non-profits over the same time frame in the amount of $150,000. The annual tithe funds are distributed to 8-10 individual groups each year, based on the approval of the ditto Board of Directors.

For the fiscal year just ended, we agreed to tithe the amount of $25,500—the largest amount tithed to date. We, at ditto and Eastern Christian School, are privileged to be a blessing to others, and are committed to continue this program of tithing for the benefit of others. 

If you would like to become involved in this ministry, please contact our store manager, Mr. Timothy Maggiore @ (973) 423-4886 for any questions you may have about ditto or its mission. ditto is a ministry of Eastern Christian School. website: https://dittonj.org/.

For the ditto Board of Directors,

Garret G. Nieuwenhuis, Treasurer

November, 2021