DIXON – Business is booming at the Leydig Center.

It isn’t unusual to see two dozen or more people lined up waiting for the center to open each morning.

On one hand, that’s bad news.

“When the economy is bad, we have a lot of incoming and outgoing,” said Joan Lemme, one of the center’s board members.

But on the other hand, money raised at the secondhand store helps thousands of families through area charities.

Lemme said in her 12 years with the center that’s mean about $1.5 million going to various organizations.

“That is just the cash,” she said.

On top of that, Gene Lemme, the board’s chairman, guesses “the in-kind is over a million dollars in and of itself.”

The store, open three days a week, has been run entirely by volunteers for the past 40 years. Most of the volunteers are senior citizens.

One of them, Opal Bowers, 84, of Dixon, has kept the place going since its inception, the Lemmes say. Bowers donates at least 1,000 hours each year – an average of about 20 hours a week.

“I worked with Mrs. Leydig when it was done out of her home,” Bowers said, sitting at her desk stacked with knickknacks that she was pricing.

Since the death of its founder, Eurith Leydig – known throughout the area simply as Mrs. Leydig – the center has been in four different locations. The most recent move, to the east end of Dixon off U.S. Route 38, was 2 years ago.

“I don’t ever want to move this place again,” Bowers said, looking around and chuckling.

The move quadrupled the center’s space, but it’s already overflowing with items. Whether customers are looking for a bargain or are in need, Bowers said, the store has something for them.

The center has clothing, books, toys, electronics, household goods, linens, shoes, furniture and picture frames, just to name a few items.

The drop-off department is triage, Gene Lemme said. Volunteers go through each donation to be sure it’s in good shape, without missing or broken parts.

The Lemmes estimate about 80 to 100 regular volunteers keep things running smoothly, with about 30 of them being available each day Leydig is open.

As new people continue to find the center, Gene said, they never know when someone will stop in and wind up becoming a volunteer.

“We have a lot of retired people here,” he said. “And we are constantly replenishing the base of volunteers. They are people who are used to doing something every day with a need to be productive.”

Joan said, “For so many of our volunteers, it is a social outlet. It gives them purpose and a reason for getting up in the morning.”

It isn’t unusual, she said, to have helpers as old as 90 assisting by folding clothes or pricing goods – even from home, which is what her mother did years ago.

The center is divided into departments – even the back of the facility, where overflow and storage is kept. Some people volunteer to work in specific departments; others are floaters who go where they’re needed.

Gene said running the place according to federal regulations is not much different than being a CEO.

“If you make more than $300,000 as a charity, you are mandated to have an audit and must file a federal tax return,” he said.