Best of Bellingham

Readers rate their favorite haunts, hideouts and hungers

The economy’s been rough; and its effects have even crept into our annual survey of what’s best in and about Bellingham.

People are shopping less, and local stores are hurting. Buying local costs a bit more; and the morning latté and workout are frequently the first things to go when pennies are pinched.

In the spring, Michelle Millar pinched and scraped to bring in the new summer fashion releases to her boutique, Mi Shoes. After a summer of meager sales, Michelle found herself spiraling, too cash-strapped to bring in her fashion inventory for fall.

“Boots are particularly expensive,” she explains.

A stylish boutique without the latest styles is doomed, and Michelle began to cast about for a buyer for her popular business on Railroad Avenue, or—failing that—to close.

“I got a phone call,” Michelle said, “from Lionel Thompson at Giving Anonymously. He told me someone had heard about my story and donated $5,000 to help me purchase my fall inventory. I hung up on him,” she relates. “It just seemed cruel. Someone was pulling a prank on me, I thought.”

Thompson, who lives in Bellingham and who started the national non- profit charitable organization in 2007 with his wife Misha, kept calling.

“He called a couple of times and I just wouldn’t let myself believe it. Finally, I called him back. He was here the next day with $5,000 from an anonymous donor,” Michelle says. “I could not believe it. I still can’t really believe it. I purchased my fall inventory and the response from customers was overwhelming. I was able to fully restock my store.”

Her eyes mist up.

“We’ve had to grow quickly to process all the gifts coming in,” Thompson told NBC News, who reported on Giving Anonymously in August. The organization has received thousands of dollars in gifts that are being given out to recipients without revealing the identity of the donor. While the organization was originally set up only to allow donors to give a gift to a specific person or business, Thompson said they are looking into developing a way to match donors with people in need.

“People came by, wanting to see the new shoes and talk about the story,” Michelle said. “A lot of women thought of this as a gift to them, too, because they really love the shoes at Mi Shoes.”

And women take their shoes very seriously.

“Yes,” Michelle laughs. “Women take their shoes very seriously.”

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