By Vanessa Formato

Right across the street from the main gates of Clark University stands an abandoned pharmacy. Worcester residents could tell you 945 Main St. was once known as Byram Healthcare, and so could Clarkies at one time. Nowadays, asking students about the dark, empty storefront would probably garner a shrug and a puzzled look. That old pharmacy has gone unnoticed for a while now ~ but that’s all about to change. Clark’s Alexa Lightner and Rachel Gerber have moved, and they’ve taken everyone’s stuff with them.

Lightner and Gerber aren’t thieves, they’re thrifters. During the 2010 spring semester, the girls entered the Innovation & Entrepreneurship department’s U-Reka competition ~ and won. According to Clark’s website, U-Reka: The Big Idea Contest is an annual event that “…encourage[s] students to help make improvements to the Clark campus community…” by offering seed money in return for a “big idea.” A total of $5,000 was split among three winning groups. Lightner and Gerber received $3,000 of the prize money this year to make their dream, the Clark Community Thriftstore, a reality.

“A lot of people come up with these big, grand ideas,” Lightner said, “but we felt that this was actually something feasible. It’s nice for the environment and it’s something we’re both really interested in. Plus, it’s part of the eco-hip trend that’s going on now.”

Lightner and Gerber hope that the store’s location and its reliance on student donations will encourage Clarkies to think before buying new.

“We want to make it easy to do something good,” Gerber said. “Being environmentally conscious shouldn’t mean you can’t have the things you want.”

If you’d like some fresh produce to fill your gently used cabinets, look no further than U-Reka’s second prize winners. Abigail Kaminsky, Brenna Schwert, Isabel Burgess, and Lila Trowbridge are teaming up to overhaul the Clark Urban Garden, using their $1,500 budget to create more planting space, buy seeds, add a bench and a flower garden, and buy tools. Their main goal with the garden expansion is to raise awareness about local growing among Clarkies ~ who will be seeing herb gardens in their University Center and library during the colder months ~ and youngsters around Worcester.

“We’re hoping to link up with some elementary schools,” Kaminski said. “It’s important to get the city kids to see that food comes from the ground and not the grocery store.”

Third place went to Michael Elliott, who will soon be the voice of a new radio show, “This Worcester Life.” Elliott was listening to NPR’s “This American Life” when he heard about U-Reka ~ and the rest will soon be history. Elliott hopes the show will be up and running by late September or early October of this year.

“My big idea was to bridge the gap between the colleges and the city,” Elliott said. “There are a lot of students at the colleges that have no idea what’s going on outside of campus, or what people who live in Worcester are like, and vice versa. My hope is to be able to inform both sides.”

While work the garden and the radio show will resume with the school year, Lightner and Gerber have been spending the summer hard at work preparing the thrift store ~ which will also be open to Worcester residents ~ in time for incoming first-years. They hope to get the word out that there’s a better, cheaper way to decorate dorms than a trip to Target.

“Kids always think ‘College! I need to buy all new stuff!’” Lightner said. “You don’t. There’s a better way.”

Photo by Dylan Scott: Rachel Gerber ‘11 (left) and Alexa Lightner ‘11 (right) take a moment to pose while preparing the Clark Community Thrift Store for its opening day.