Newspaper Page Text
Community Thrift Store faces unique
challenge in re-opening; no date set
PAGE 6A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MAY 14. 2020
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
The Pickens Community
Thrift Store will face partic
ular challenges re-opening
from the COVID-19 shut
down due to the age of their
volunteers and challenge of
handling donations from un
known conditions
The thrift store, 110
Samaritan Dr. in Jasper, has
been closed since the first
weeks of pandemic restric
tions and likely will not re
open until some time in June,
according to the local institu
tion’s founder and director
Don Russell.
The store generated
around $550,000 in sales last
year from donated clothes,
furniture, books and odds and
ends, gives all profits to local
groups and is run entirely by
volunteers. The store gave
away and recycled much
more than they sold in the
past years and is considered a
major asset in reducing the
solid waste and illegal dump
ing.
While dedicated, Russell
said his volunteers are mostly
elderly and have the health
problems associated with that
demographic. “The average
age of our volunteer might be
80,” he said. “And they have
health issues. We have some
in their 70s and not many
below that age.”
The thrift store needs at
least 20 volunteers for
cashiers to re-open a full
scheduled and Russell fears
that most of his regulars will
not work until the CO VID-19
fears pass. Before the manda
tory shut-down, the store re
lied on 50 regular cashiers.
“Cashiers is the biggest
need,” he said. “Normally we
have around 50 cashiers, two
shifts a day, so four a day. All
work half days some once a
week, some once a month.”
Russell said the thrift store
board will be discussing a
phased opening this week,
where they may sell items at
limited times from the stock
pile already there but not ac
cept drop-off donations until
they clear out some inventory
and rebuild their volunteer
base.
He speculated that they
would use a phase-in system
with limited hours, limited
days and limited people in
side the store, but worried
that may not sit well with
their customers.
“We would like to open in
June,” he said. “What does
that mean? I don’t know.
Maybe that is unrealistic.”
Russell expressed fears of
being swamped the first day
they re-open with a flood of
old couches, bags of clothes
and piles of stuff from all the
basements cleaned during
quarantine.
He said even after they
closed the gates and an
nounced they were closed
drop-offs “kept flowing in.”
He credited the men’s resi
dential ministry, The Timo
thy House, as doing a
fabulous job to keep the in
coming items sorted and the
store area cleared.
The nature of donations
presents another issue, as the
volunteers will have to get
up close and handle other
people’s clothes and posses
sions. Russell said he has
been following the national
news on thrift stores and the
clothing issue. “Can we turn
around and sell them? Good
will is not taking them [ac
cording to one report he
saw]. We are checking on
how we need to handle this.”
on.
All clothes in the store
now were donated before the
quarantine so they should be
safe, but how do we handle
clothes that are tried on? he
asked.
He said they will take all
the precautions possible with
gloves, masks and face
shields but are looking at
what else they should do.
Russell predicted that
whenever their first day is, it
will be huge for business.
The store is frequented by
numerous collectors and peo
ple who come to socialize in
the aisles. “We could have
90-100 people waiting on us
to open the doors,” he said.
“We’ll need some type of
crowd control to maintain so
cial distancing.”
First and foremost, how
ever, is rebuilding the volun
teer base. To volunteer
contact Russell at 770-894-
3246.
• Will work to maintain the county’s strong financial position and limit un
necessary costs to taxpayers. This is increasingly important as we face
the COVID-19 pandemic and potential economic repercussions. The
time for steady and experienced leadership is more important than ever.
• Will work to finalize the process to establish the county’s first reservoir
and water treatment facility in order to further strengthen the county’s
infrastructure. This partnership between the county and the Grandview
Lake Company for water supply is well underway.
• Will work with the Board of Commissioners to expand parks and recre
ation at Roper Park and in other parts of the county. These expansions
will be possible with an allocation of 10% of the next SPLOST.
• Will work to continue expanding our fire and EMS protection throughout
the county to improve public safety and ISO ratings. This is building on
progress we’ve already made with new fire stations, fulltime staff, and
proper resources and training.
• Will work to finalize the new Recycling and Waste operations center
for Pickens County. This project is already underway, and upon com
pletion, will increase services and accessibility for our citizens.
• Will work to continue progress we’ve made at the Pickens Animal Shel
ter. We will do this by making additional facility upgrades and increasing
our services to best meet the needs of the animals.
• Will work to build further on the great progress we’ve made at the Pick
ens County Airport. We will continue the multi-phase expansion plans
with the goal of lifting our airport into the top 15 in the state - currently
ranked in the top 25.
Rob Jones is a proven leader.
He accepts responsibility and gets the job done.
Re-elect Robert Jones,
Chairman Pickens County Commission
Election Day June 9th
Early Voting May 18th - June 5th
Paid for by Citizens for Continued Good Government
Optimists support Girl Scouts
and law enforcement
By Sue Appleton/PR Chair
When the shutdown oc
curred due to the pandemic,
the local Girls Scouts troops
19001 and 20011 were un
able to complete the sales of
their annual Girl Scout cook
ies. They had
over 130 boxes stored with
no idea of how to get them
sold. Proceeds from the sale
of cookies helps the troops do
such activities as a weekend
camping trip to Unicoi State
Park and a trip to Savannah
to visit the home of Juliette
Gordon Low, founder of Girl
Scouts.
The Optimist Club of
Jasper contacted Ashley Mel-
drum to determine if we
could purchase all remaining
boxes of cookies. Ashley
wrote "Thank you for even
thinking about us! It's won
derful to see how our small
community has pulled to
gether during this crazy
times. It's such a blessing to
live in this town!"
After making the donation
to the two troops and loading
up the boxes of cookies, the
Optimist Club of Jasper was
ready to distribute them into
the community in recognition
of our local law enforcement
and first responders.
On May 11th, the club
members took the boxes of
cookies to the 911 Operations
Center, the four Pickens
County fire stations, the
Jasper Police Department,
the City of Jasper Fire Station
and the County Sheriffs of
fice. Chief Greg Lovell
wrote "Thank you so much
from all the staff at JPD" and
Capt. Kris Stancil wrote
"Thank you SO much! You
guys have brought incredible
joy to our staff!"
Club members who
helped distribute the cookies
included Tucker Green, Rob
Jones, Donna Enis, Barbara
Ress, Fran Dodd, Margy
Lohman, Steve Greenwell,
Jim Kirk, Hayden Pass and
Parish Lowrie. The purposes
of an Optimist Club are: To
develop optimism as a phi
losophy of life, utilizing the
tenets of the Optimist Creed;
To promote an active interest
in good government and
civic affairs; To inspire re
spect for the law; To promote
patriotism and work for inter-
Gowmovm 1
NEEDS A
Cure.
mpssociety.org
Contact 770-241-2492
chestertj04@gmail.com
Delivering to 911 Operation Center L. to R. Rob Jones , Kristy Eastenvood, Casey
Pickett, Donna Enis.
VOTE
Tracy
Lynn
Chester
Delivering to the Sheriffs office: Kalin England, Capt. Kris Stancil, Jim Kirk, Steve
Greenwell, Hayden Pass.
T
L
C
Trustworthy
Loyal
Compassionate
Not your only choice
but the right choice!
Troops 19001 and 20011 members and their leaders,
Ashley Meldrum, Rebecca Hollifield, Laura Clouse.
national accord and friend
ship among all people; To aid
and encourage the develop
ment of youth, in the belief
that the giving of one's self in
service to others will advance
the well-being of humankind,
community life and the
world.
Go to the club's Facebook
page by searching for Opti
mist Club of Jasper GAto see
Rob Jones
Looking to the Future
for Pickens County
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