Young voters’ engagement plays a key role during extravagant thrift store shopping event

On Saturday afternoon, Alice Jones, a Charlotte, N.C., native, learned something recent about her friend Jacque Matthews of Memphis. Matthews wasn’t planning on voting. She just doesn’t feel engaged in national politics.

“You have to get involved!” Jones replied.

The out-of-town couple, both 37, were shopping at the Thrift Project on I Street in the Harrowgate section of Kensington, a thrift market that featured more than 40 local small-business vendors, food trucks, a live DJ and panel discussions.

The Thrift Project used fashion, music, and health and wellness to engage Gen Z and millennials ahead of the 2024 presidential election. While the main attraction is the chance to win unique items, the real driving force behind the event is voting.

“You can save money, listen to live music, eat good food, participate in creative panels, and also fulfill your civic duty,” said Christina Faith, creator and executive producer of the Thrift Project.

Faith came up with the idea for a shopping spree at the substantial Los Angeles flea market in 2022. She believed there was nothing like it on the East Coast.

“We needed something that had a beautiful culture, community, but also a vibe,” said Faith, 41. The event drew 2,400 people.

Faith’s production company, Grindhouse, has partnered with Show Up Strong ’24, a grassroots engagement organization that aims to reach 18- to 41-year-olds and encourage them to vote in the upcoming presidential election. Show Up Strong is an offshoot of the Voter Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to voter engagement in Pennsylvania. Show Up Strong ’24 is present in each of the key battleground states.

Each vendor’s table had stacks of cards with a QR code that encouraged people to check their voter registration status after scanning them. People with smartphones could enter their name, email address, phone number and address to see if they were registered or if their registration was current.

During a rousing mix of “Wild Thoughts” by DJ Khaled, Rihanna and Bryson Tiller, an event employee announced a giveaway: “We’re giving away $10 if you check your registration right here at the DJ booth.”

Valarie Jones has been working with Show Up Strong ’24 since May. She said the organization is trying to reach out to youthful Philadelphians, who are noticing a lack of voter engagement in the city.

“We wanted it to be a party and not make voting seem boring,” Jones said.

The organization operates a bus that goes to events that attract immense numbers of youthful people, such as festivals, and talks to them about the political issues they are grappling with.

“The biggest thing we’ve heard over the last few months is that voting isn’t fun,” Jones said. “It’s too serious. The whole point of our platform is to meet people where they are.”

She added that she heard such opinions especially when President Joe Biden was still in the middle of the election campaign.

Nationally, an estimated 41 million eligible voters will be Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, and eight million recent potential voters will come of age before the presidential election. In 2022, Democrats credited youthful voters with stemming the “red tide” in the midterms.

Josh McDonough, 20, is a designer who works on custom clothing. He was behind a stand of purple, red, orange and turquoise denim decorated with pop culture references, like sitcom characters Rick and MortyIn an era of sartorial minimalism, McDonough said, he wants to continue to create lively clothes that stand out.

“I want people to be able to express themselves fully,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you walk into a room and everyone stares at you.”

McDonough, a Northeast Philadelphia native, is a registered voter and interested in politics but admits he’s still not sure if his vote matters.

“You want to feel like you can make a difference, but sometimes I feel like I don’t know what my voice really means,” McDonough said.

Clair Chodak, 14, and her friend Elisha Behrend, 15, are too youthful to vote. But they still believe voting and political involvement are significant.

Behrend said: “I think it has a direct impact on us.”