BELLVILLE — Tami Oyster has spent the last five years as a full-time volunteer, helping local veterans however she can.
Her charity thrift store, Love Our Hero's, has raised almost $89,000 and helped more than 300 veterans.
Now, Oyster is facing an unfamiliar challenge — allowing herself to be on the receiving end of another's generosity.
Tami Oyster of Bellville is the founder and CEO of Love Our Hero's, a non-profit that helps area veterans in need.
Submitted
Two weeks ago, Oyster’s vehicle died. The 2006 Jeep Commander is beyond repair.
Kathy Nevins, a volunteer at Love Our Hero's, started a GoFundMe to help Oyster purchase a good used car.
“She did not want me to do this at all," Nevins said. "It took awhile to convince her."
As of Monday morning, the campaign had raised $1,610 of its $10,000 goal.
"(Oyster) travels around in her vehicle to help veterans in Richland County and the surrounding counties. She provides food and household items to our veterans who do not have their own transportation," Nevins wrote in the fundraiser description.
"This turn of events has humbled her and made her realize that in order for her to continue helping veterans, she needs to accept our help."
Blevins said Oyster takes little to nothing from the profits of the store. Instead, she supports herself and her daughter by doing odd jobs and cleaning AirBnBs.
“I want to continue to serve in the way I did when I started this. I didn’t start this to be a business, I started this to help people," Oyster said.
“I will continue to make money elsewhere and make sure the veterans get as much as they can.”
Oyster said she has mixed emotions about GoFundMe.
“There’s so many good people and it’s just so wonderful to see how many people appreciate you," she said.
"I’m supposed to be the one who helps other people. So for me to let my walls down and let people see what’s really happening, it’s been really hard for me."
Oyster said the experience has helped her empathize even more with people she's devoted her life to serving.
“A lot of our veterans don’t have a vehicle or they're elderly, so they don’t have the means to pick items up,” Oyster said.
"I’m experiencing what they’re going through, so it’s going to be easier for me to help them. God is allowing me to be where they are so I can understand.”
Oyster said the needs she sees are "all over the map." She's helped pay funeral costs, nursing home fees and electric bills. She's coordinated vehicle donations and kickstarted the construction of a new home.
But most of Oyster's work involves helping veterans get the most basic necessities. She recently took two carloads of furniture to a veteran who had gotten his own place after a period of homelessness.
"I would say about 75 percent of our vets are transitioning from homelessness to an apartment. So a lot of our vets are starting completely over," she said.
“It’s disheartening that they have to worry about basic things that people take for granted.”
Oyster hopes to open a second Love Our Hero's store in the near future.
“We’re out of space," she said. "We feel God is leading us to open another location.”
Oyster opened her initial store five years ago during a time when her own life was in turmoil.
"I was in an awful marriage and quite frankly I just didn’t want to live anymore," she said.
Oyster began praying, asking God for something to give her a sense of purpose.
"I woke up the next morning and I knew exactly what I needed to do," she said.
Oyster saved up $690 and opened Love Our Hero's in January 2019. She rented a tiny storefront, loaded it up with her unneeded belongings and started a thrift store to benefit the local American Legion. She thought she'd be in business for a couple months at most.
"God had another plan,” Oyster said.
Before long, customers began telling Oyster about the needs of local veterans they knew. She started using her own money to cover expenses for former service members living in poverty. Needs ranged from rent, utilities, groceries, car payments and even home repairs.
As word got around, people began bringing their own household appliances, furniture, garden tools and equipment, toys and even vehicles to the rented storefront to raise more money for local veterans. Oyster founded her non-profit and moved the charity store into a bigger space.
“It’s been really, really hard, but I can’t imagine doing anything else," she said. “Love Our Hero’s saved my life. Every time I get to help a veteran, God uses it to help me.”
To find out more about the GoFundMe campaign benefitting Tami Oyster, click here.
Staff reporter focused on education and features. Clear Fork alumna. Always looking for a chance to practice my Spanish. You can reach me at katie@richlandsource.com
