The cafe and the students store are all student-run profits at West Albany High School. If sophomore Kaden Troung has his way, The Third Bin will be the next student-run profit.
The Third Bin is where club members will sell clothes they find, clean, organize, and price, creating a thrift store for students at WAHS. The idea of the club wasn’t a spontaneous idea for Troung; thrifting and repurposing clothes are among the many hobbies that he indulges in.
Troung started this idea in the seventh grade, when he was not able to get a job, and he needed to pay for college classes.
“It started with candy,” Truong said. “Then I slowly started reselling shoes.”
During Troung’s adventure in repurposing and selling clothes, he came to the realization that some people happen to be wasteful and don’t always wear the clothes that they have.
Though The Third Bin is in the early stages, Truong is currently working on how the clothes are going to be cleaned for the club.
“In the future, our steps are to get everything organized and discussed,” Truong said.
Troung is very committed to giving back to the people and communities around him, and because of this commitment, he plans to use the proceeds that he gets from the club and give them to the communities around him.
“Since it’s a community helping us, I want to give back to the community,” Troung said.
The Third Bin club wants all the proceeds that they make from this club to go back to organizations around them, like Jackson Street Youth Services, which helps struggling youth in the area, and Cardv, which addresses issues of domestic abuse.
Truong hopes others will want to be involved with The Third Bin. They are currently holding meetings on Tuesdays in social studies teacher Jeneveve Winchell’s room.
