Your trash is Don Shelby’s treasure
Blog written by Craig Dirkes, writer and photographer for The Salvation Army Northern Division.
Soon, CW 23 Twin Cities will begin airing a series of Salvation Army public service announcements featuring local TV news legend Don Shelby. In the ads, he urges viewers to shop at or donate goods to any of nine Salvation Army stores in the Twin Cities metro area.
Naturally, the 30-second ads don’t delve into Shelby’s reasons for speaking on our behalf. I wanted to know why. Just before the taping, he was gracious enough to sit down with me and provide answers.
Reason one: Your trash is his treasure
Shelby is stylish, whip-smart and classy. He’s been starring in Mark Twain shows for 25 years. He sits on 13 charity boards. During his 32-year career at WCCO-TV, he won an Emmy and two Peabody awards, among other prestigious accolades.
Such accomplishments require dressing the part. So, admittedly, I pegged him as a wearer of Armani or Versace.
Wrong. Shelby spends less than thousands on his suits. Much less.
“People will stop me on the street and say, ‘That’s a fabulous sport coat – who made that for you?’” he said, building up a chuckle. “I tell them I got it off a rack for $4.50 at The Salvation Army.”
Yes, Shelby has been buying clothes at Salvation Army stores for about 20 years – professional attire included. And this is a man who knows his suits. He even has a tie-knot named after him.
Shelby doesn’t stop at clothing. His home is a veritable museum of furniture and artwork purchased at Salvation Army stores, including paintings, tables, chairs and more.
His favorite piece of artwork?
“A picture of a stern-looking woman,” he said. “I would understand why people wouldn’t want to have it in their house, and why they would say I need to get rid of it. But it struck me as the perfect picture for my house. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”
Reason two: The environment
Shelby “went green” long before that term went mainstream. The 68-year-old has been a champion of the environment his whole life. He is a member of and advises many environmental organizations, including the Mississippi River Fund and Will Steger Foundation. His house takes green living to new levels.
Shopping at Salvation Army stores aligns with his commitment to preserving the environment. The stores save millions of pounds of clothes, housewares, furniture, sporting goods – you name it – from entering the waste system.
“The environmental point of reuse is as important as recycling,” Shelby said. “All of these things that have run their lifespan in somebody’s household, it doesn’t mean they’re dead. They have another lifespan, or two, or three. Sometimes, after 10 years of having something from The Salvation Army in our house, we’ll take it back to The Salvation Army.”
Reason three: Saving people from addiction
Every dollar spent at Salvation Army stores in the Twin Cities funds The Salvation Army Rehabilitation Center in Minneapolis (pictured), which provides free or almost-free residential treatment for up to 130 men battling addiction.
Helping save people from addiction is important to Shelby because he almost lost everything to alcoholism.
“I’m in support of any effort to help people recover,” Shelby said. “They’re in a trap they believe they cannot get out of.”
He was ensnared in the same trap 35 years ago, spending his 20s and early 30s drinking heavily and often.
“I could go a month without drinking, and then I’d fly off the handle – end up in cities with no idea where I was or what I had done,” he recalled. “I was absolutely convinced I was an alcoholic. I just didn’t know how to stop drinking.”
One day, he reached a point where he had one simple and critical decision to make: quit drinking, or lose his job and family.
“I needed a couple days to think about it,” Shelby said. “Most sane people would say that’s the stupidest thing in the world. But when the only way you think you can live is by choosing alcohol, it becomes a real dilemma.”
Thankfully, he chose correctly. He hasn’t had a drop since April 1980. He’s since discovered “happiness, and peace, and joy, and serenity that you simply don’t have when you’re using,” Shelby said. “Recovery gave me structure. It allowed me to take a fearless moral inventory every day. Ask myself serious questions. The process of recovery doesn’t stop with alcohol, it starts with rebuilding a whole new life.”
Much appreciated
The idea to have Shelby star in the PSAs started with CW 23 senior account executive Tom Burke, a former board member of the rehabilitation center and longtime friend of Shelby’s.
The Salvation Army thanks Shelby and CW 23 for supporting our mission.
“We relish the opportunity to work with Don Shelby, whose passion for ‘going green’ and helping those in early recovery align so perfectly with the mission of The Salvation Army,” said Michel Wong, Salvation Army director of product development. “Not to mention, he’s been a loyal customer for so many years.”
Proceeds from stores in Greater Minnesota and North Dakota fund local Salvation Army services. Find a Salvation Army store near you.